9 Chapter 1: Introduction The third component of the study measures the benefits generated by students of the programs. We perform an investment analysis to determine how the money spent by the programs’ students on their education performs as an investment over time. The students’ investment in this case consists of their out-of-pocket expenses and their opportunity cost of attending the college as opposed to working. In return for these investments, students receive a lifetime of higher earnings. The fourth component of the study measures the benefits generated by program students for New York taxpayers. As students earn more because of the education they receive at SUNY WCC, the tax base in New York also will increase. In addition, savings will be generated to the public sector from reduced demand for governmentfunded social services in New York. The study uses a wide array of data that are based on several sources, including the programs’ FY 2021-22 academic and student financial data from SUNYWCC; industry and employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau; outputs of Lightcast’s impact model and MR-SAMmodel; and a variety of published materials relating education to social behavior.
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