University of Louisiana System

Margaret Trahan
President & CEO, United Way of Acadiana

University of Louisiana

at Lafayette

Impact of Spending

UL Lafayette’s statewide annual economic impact is $755 million and supports 7,783 non-university jobs.

This includes:

$19 million from affiliated organizations,

$32 million in health insurance payments,

$23 million impact of retiree spending,

$72 million in university operations,

$47 million in construction and capital outlay,

$125 million from visitors,

$150 million in faculty and staff expenditures, and

$287 million impact from student spending.

Impact of Teaching

UL Lafayette’s graduates have added $1.3 billion to Louisiana’s economy over the last 10 years.

The university’s bachelor’s degree holders have generated $1.16 billion, master’s degree holders almost $133 million, and associate’s degree holders $7.5 million.

UL Lafayette produced 88,448 degrees over the last 50 years with 23,659 graduates between 1998 and 2007.

UL Lafayette has the state’s only doctoral program in Francophone Studies and is the highest producer of computer and information sciences and support degrees at the master’s and doctoral levels.

Impact of Research & Service

This study captured 33 research and service programs at UL Lafayette.

They include:

6 in economic development,

3 in cultural development,

6 in environmental and natural sciences,

10 in engineering and technology, and

8 in education, health and human services.

In 2008, the university’s research centers received about $49 million in state, federal and private revenues. Its economic development centers were responsible for $1.2 billion in increased revenues for clients; $1.8 billion in retained revenues for clients; and 23,000 non-university jobs created or sustained.

Shawn Wilson
State of Louisiana, Confidential Assistant

Impact on Quality of Life

There were approximately 1.2 million attendees at University of Louisiana at Lafayette events last year. Of those, 43% were from off-campus, adding to the $125 million impact from visitor spending.

UL Lafayette reaches out to the community through service, offering opportunities for service learning in 118 courses and working toward the centralization and campuswide offerings of service learning activities.

Additionally, UL Lafayette faculty and staff volunteered 115,000 hours last year, and students contributed 393,000 hours to enhancing the community.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Report (.pdf)
University of Louisiana at Lafayette Impact Study Web Site