ORANGE’S Charles Sturt University (CSU) campus pumps more than $28 million into the city’s economy and creates almost 400 jobs, the latest data show.
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As CSU staff, students and graduates celebrated the university’s Foundation Day – which marks the anniversary of its inception – on Wednesday, it also released an Economic Impact Report to demonstrate its “positive impact” on regional economies.
CSU commissioned the Western Research Institute to undertake an analysis of its economic impact for 2016, and the findings concluded the university is responsible for more than 2 per cent of Orange’s jobs and incomes.
There were 947 students enrolled at the Orange campus in 2016, of which 554 were studying internally. Of these, 512 were classified as non-local.
CSU contributed $28.3m in Orange’s household income – the economic benefit to residents via the spending of university students and staff, including on rental accommodation – in 2016, which represents 2.1 per cent of total household income calculations for the Orange Local Government Area (LGA) for the 12-month period.
In the same time frame the university created the equivalent of 390 full-time jobs in the Orange LGA, with the health care/social assistance, retail, accommodation, and food services industries the main beneficiaries.
There were 947 students enrolled at the Orange campus in 2016, of which 554 were studying internally. Of these, 512 were classified as non-local to the Orange LGA.
HOW DO WE MAKE A CRUST?
Orange's biggest employment fields in the 2016 Census:
- Health care/social assistance - 4000
- Retail - 2257
- Education - 1907
- Public administration/training - 1653
Acting CSU vice-chancellor Jenny Roberts said the report confirmed the university’s place in, and importance to, Orange.
“From the local businesses who benefit from the non-local students and their visitors to the opportunities CSU research investment dollars bring, it’s heartening to see we have such a positive impact,” she said.
The Orange campus was officially transferred to CSU from the University of Sydney on January 1, 2005, after originally housing the Orange Agricultural College.
In recent years it has turned its undergraduate focus towards science-based courses, with dentistry, physiotherapy, pharmacy and veterinary degrees among those offered.