With over 110,000 residential and online students enrolled in over 450 programs, Liberty University is not only Lynchburg’s largest employer; but also the fastest-growing. In fact, between 2001 and 2013, the university increased employment by 416 percent and created 6,096 new jobs. The impact of the university’s significant and quick growth was recently analyzed in a recent study conducted by Magnum Economic Consulting LLC, a consulting firm based in Richmond, Va.
Overall, the report showed that Liberty University has a positive leadership and fiscal impact on the local community and throughout the state of Virginia as a whole. This impact has continued to grow, having increased by over 260 percent in the past four years alone.
Here are some quick facts from the economic analysis report:
- Liberty’s enrollment shot up by 810 percent from 8,500 to 77,338 between 1992 and 2013
- In the 2013-14 fiscal year, the university, its enterprises, tenants, students and visitors directly spent $537.3 million in the Lynchburg MSA
- The direct regional spending affected more than $1 billion in economic activity over the past year
- Regional spending supported 10,637 jobs, generating $387.7 million in labor income
- The Lynchburg MSA received $12.5 million from tax revenue paid by Liberty staff, students, tenants and guests
- $9.2 million of those tax revenues went directly to Lynchburg alone