A recent external study revealed that not only has the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts provided high school students from across Arkansas with life-changing educational opportunities but that it has also had a large economic impact in both Garland County and the state.
The comprehensive economic and social impact study conducted for the institution explored the school’s operations between 2017 and 2021. It revealed that ASMSA had a total impact of $104.4 million in the State of Arkansas, which is 122 percent above the state’s base investment in the school, and $98.4 million in Garland County, more than 109 percent greater than the base funding.
The study also revealed that ASMSA creates a 68.4 percent Return On Investment (ROI) in economic growth and development for each dollar the state invests in the school. The state invested more than $47 million in ASMSA during the study’s five-year period.
“2017 to 2021 included years of growth, transformation, and even disruption for ASMSA due to the pandemic,” noted ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice. “From new facilities to the continued growth of our legislated Arts mission to further expenditures to ensure faculty and staff positions are appropriately compensated, ASMSA leveraged the people of Arkansas’ investment in the potential of these students to great effect. We are grateful for the support that makes our residential and statewide outreach programs possible."
ASMSA has also been a positive influence in generating state and local taxes for both the state and for Garland County respectively. The study shows ASMSA created $4.1 million in state and local taxes for the State of Arkansas during the study period. The Garland County state and local tax impact exceeded $3.8 million during that same time period.
“At the outset of the physical transformation of the ASMSA campus in 2010, both the School and City of Hot Springs leadership renewed their commitments to each other’s success,” Alderdice said. “As ASMSA prepares to complete the first phase of the campus development in 2024 and exit the former hospital complex, this study is a reminder of the value, revenue and contributions to both the intellectual and cultural enhancement the School brings to the greater Hot Springs community.”
The study was conducted by Boyette Strategic Advisors, a Little Rock firm that provides economic impact evaluation and analysis as well as strategic planning services, workforce solutions location analytics, feasibility studies and other services for various professional organizations, cities, educational institutions and other entities.
Other notable findings from the report:
- ASMSA’s annual employment of approximately 100 persons over the five-year period supports nearly 200 jobs in Arkansas, which includes supply chain and consumer spending employment. The numbers in Garland County are similar with total supported job exceeding 180 when measuring the impact of ASMSA’s employment, payroll and operating expenses.
- The total impact from ASMSA employment, payroll and operating expenses exceeded $18.7 million in the State of Arkansas in 2021 alone. During that same year, the impact at the county level was $17.8 million. That has continued to be the case during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscals years and are projected to be so for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
- ASMSA made more than $9.3 million in capital investment on campus during the study’s period, including the construction of the $4.7 million Creativity and Innovation Complex, the first new academic building built on the school’s campus in its 30-year history which opened in 2019.
- The impact of volunteerism in the Hot Springs community by ASMSA students, faculty and staff is valued at $182,700 per year. The institution averages about 7,680 volunteer hours a year, including partnering with local nonprofits and other organizations such as the National Park Service.
- ASMSA residential students have represented 68 of the state’s 75 counties during the last five years. The student body’s demographic profile reflects the diversity, economic status and family educational attainment of Arkansas. About 60 percent of graduates from the Classes of 2017-2021 went on to attend an Arkansas college or university after graduation. Half of students who applied to attend either a Top 50 National University or Top 25 Liberal Arts College identified by the U.S. News and World Report gained admission to the highly selected and prestigious institutions of higher learning.
- More than 3,300 students and educators in Arkansas benefit from the STEM Pathways program, a hybrid educator development and digital learning initiative aimed at building capacity of teachers across Arkansas while ensuring students receive access to Advanced Placement coursework they otherwise might not receive at their public schools.
- Forty-one ASMSA students have been recognized as National Merit Finalists in the last five years, representing almost 7 percent of all graduates.
The full report may be found at https://asmsa.me/2023economicimpactstudy.