29 Chapter 2: Economic impacts on the Westchester County economy have earned had they not attended SUNY WCC. Using the county incremental earnings, credits required, and distribution of credits at each level of study, we estimate the average value per CHE to equal $131. This value represents the county average incremental increase in wages that alumni of SUNYWCC received during the analysis year for every CHE they completed. Because workforce experience leads to increased productivity and higher wages, the value per CHE varies depending on the students’ workforce experience, with the highest value applied to the CHEs of students who had been employed the longest by FY 2021-22, and the lowest value per CHE applied to students who were just entering the workforce. More information on the theory and calculations behind the value per CHE appears in Appendix 6. In determining the amount of added labor income attributable to alumni, we multiply the CHEs of former students in each year of the historical time horizon by the corresponding average value per CHE for that year, and then sum the products together. This calculation yields approximately $464.9 million in gross labor income from increased wages received by former students in FY 2021-22 (as shown in Table 2.5). The next two rows in Table 2.5 show two adjustments used to account for counterfactual outcomes. As discussed above, counterfactual outcomes in economic analysis represent what would have happened if a given event had not occurred. The event in question is the education and training provided by SUNY WCC and subsequent influx of skilled labor into the county economy. The first counterfactual scenario that we address is the adjustment for alternative education opportunities. In the counterfactual scenario where SUNYWCC does not exist, we assume a portion of SUNYWCC alumni would have received a comparable education elsewhere in the county or would have left the county and received a comparable education and then returned to the county. The incremental added labor income that accrues to those students cannot be counted towards the added labor income from SUNYWCC alumni. The adjustment for alternative education opportunities amounts to a 15% reduction of the $464.9 million in added labor income. This means that 15% of the added labor income from SUNYWCC alumni would have been generated in the county anyway, even if the college did not exist. For more information on the alternative education adjustment, see Appendix 7. Table 2.5: Number of CHEs in workforce and initial labor income created in Westchester County, FY 2021-22 Number of CHEs in workforce 3,556,901 Average value per CHE $131 Initial labor income, gross $464,882,852 Adjustments for counterfactual scenarios Percent reduction for alternative education opportunities 15% Percent reduction for adjustment for labor import effects 50% Initial labor income, net $197,575,212 Source: Lightcast impact model.
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