Middle Georgia State University Contributes More Than $312 Million to Regional Economy in Fiscal 2024

Author: Sheron Smith
Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2025 12:00 AM
Categories: School of Business | Faculty/Staff | School of Arts and Letters | Pressroom | School of Education and Behavioral Sciences | Students | School of Aviation | School of Computing | School of Health and Natural Sciences

Macon, GA

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MGA's economic impact is felt throughout the region, particularly in counties where the University has campuses: Bibb, Bleckley, Laurens, Dodge, and Houston.

Middle Georgia State University (MGA) contributed more than $312 million to the economy in fiscal 2024, a 5.3 percent increase over the previous year. Due to on- and off-campus spending during the same period, the University accounted for nearly 3,000 jobs. 

That’s according to a study released August 12 by the University System of Georgia (USG). Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, conducted the study. 

As a whole, the USG contributed a total of $23.1 billion to the state’s economy between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, or a 5.4 percent increase over the previous year, the study showed. The statewide economic impact of the USG includes 168,635 full- and part-time jobs, or 3.3 percent of all non-farm jobs in Georgia. 

“The continued growth of the economic impact of the University is a powerful reflection of our commitment to our values of stewardship and engagement,” said Christopher Blake, Ph.D., MGA’s president. “Those values ensure that our resources leverage the economic well-being of the region by engaging our strength in the workforce and the community.” 

Here are some of the key MGA economic impact numbers from fiscal 2024:  

  • Total economic impact: $312.2 million (up 5.3 percent from fiscal 2023). 
  • Jobs supported: 2,932 total (818 on campus; 2,114 off campus) due to spending. 
  • Labor income generated (paychecks and benefits going to local workers because of MGA): $130.3 million. 
  • Value added to the region (overall economic gain to the region from MGA’s activities): $210.8 million.
  • Capital projects impact: $3.1 million, supporting 20 jobs and adding more than $1.8 million in value to the regional economy. 

A companion study to this year’s economic impact report showed that members of the USG class of 2024 who work in Georgia can expect total work-life earnings of $230 billion, which is $73 billion more than they could expect to earn had they not earned their degrees. In terms of incremental additional work-life earnings, the collective worth of the degrees granted by the USG is $73 billion. 

Some $1.5 billion of that $73 billion is the portion that members of MGA’s class of 2024 would earn over a lifetime, according to the companion study’s estimates. The USG study estimates that graduates with at least a bachelor’s degree will earn $1.4 million more throughout their lives. 

MGA is one of the University System of Georgia’s 26 institutions. According to the report, MGA’s economic impact is primarily felt in the counties where the institution has campuses – Bibb (Macon), Bleckley (Cochran), Laurens (Dublin), Dodge (Eastman, the home base of the University’s School of Aviation), and Houston (Warner Robins). The University’s economic impact is felt also in Jones, Monroe, Peach, Crawford, Twiggs, Baldwin, Wilkinson, Lamar, and Pulaski counties. 

As with the other USG institutions, MGA’s total economic impact considers the University’s spending on personnel and operations, and what students spend. The study calculates the impact generated by the re-spending of those initial amounts, known as the multiplier effect. 

Read the full economic impact report here: https://www.usg.edu/assets/usg/docs/news_files/USG_Economic_Impact_2024_%281%29.pdf