Canberra's major universities contribute $1.7 billion to ACT economy
Canberra's two biggest universities contributed more than $1.7 billion worth of economic activity to the local economy in 2012, a new report has found.
The study, prepared by Deloitte Access Economics and commissioned by the Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Canberra (UC), found one in nine Canberrans studied at or were employed by the two institutions.
The data showed the universities directly employed 5,424 people and supported 11,500 full-time jobs across the ACT, generating 12.6 per cent of the ACT payroll tax, or $41 million.
It also found that every dollar of expenditure on the universities, returned 80 cents of value to the local economy.
Between them the two universities attract 10,000 international students and 10,500 interstate students to the capital.
The report found that in 2012, about 38,000 students were enrolled at the ANU and UC, accounting for 92 per cent of the tertiary students in the ACT.
Other tertiary institutions in the ACT include the Australian Catholic University, the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Canberra Institute of Technology.
Canberra 'a knowledge city'
ANU vice-chancellor Ian Young said Canberra could claim the mantle as the premier university city in Australia.
"I think increasingly ... you're seeing Canberra as a knowledge city. We're highly educated, we attract many many students both from around Australia and from overseas to Canberra," he said.
"Increasingly this is going to be a more important part of the economy of the city."
The report found UC and ANU were more valuable to the ACT economy than the financial and insurance services and utilities sectors.
