In a time when state governments are becoming more and more willing to cut taxpayer funding to higher education institutions in order to balance the budget, a new study shows the impact the University of Washington has on the state’s economy.

New data shows that the school contributes $9.1 billion, at minimum, to the state economy every year.

The study, conducted from 2008 to ‘09 by consulting firm Tripp Umbach, found that the UW created $4 billion in direct economic activity (economic transactions from the university and its employees, students and visitors) and another $5.1 billion from indirect expenditures by businesses using money from direct expenditures.

Tripp Umbach senior principal Paul Umbach made it clear that these estimates were conservative, because they did not factor in economic activity stimulated by spin-off companies and UW graduates no longer directly affiliated with the institution. If these were factored in, the impact could easily top $10 billion.

Tripp Umbach has 20 years of experience working with more than 150 universities in the nation, and Umbach said at Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting that the school had the “highest economic impact of any university that [the company] has had a chance to measure over the 20 years.”

In the data presented, a 2009 study showed the University of North Carolina spurred a calculated economic impact of $10.4 billion, but it did so using $622.1 million of state investment. In comparison, the UW created $9.1 billion using $401.7 million in state funds, leading to almost $6 more activity-per-dollar of state investment than UNC, which has the second-highest activity-per-dollar rate in the nation, behind the UW.

Likewise, each dollar of state investment into the UW is estimated to generate $1.48 in state revenue, the highest of any institution studied. Combined, all three of the UW campuses account for just over $618.1 million, including $25.5 million in direct funds to local governments.

The research also shows that the UW is the third-largest employer in the state, behind Boeing and Microsoft, employing just fewer than 28,000 full-time employees. Company estimates, however, say that nearly 70,000 full-time jobs have been created because of the UW. The school accounts for 3.5 percent of the total labor force of the Puget Sound region, and more than 6.1 percent of the labor force in King County.

Some have argued that grouping and comparing the UW — a public institution — with private companies, such as Boeing and Microsoft, is misleading, as the university is run partly by public funding from the state.

Regardless, the study shows that people affiliated with the UW are everywhere in Washington.

“On a morning commute on a bus or on a train where there are 18 people, one of those folks are going to work because of the university or at the university,” Umbach said. “In the whole state, it is two out of every hundred.”

Umbach credits much of the UW’s success to being a research institution. The UW currently receives the most federal research money out of any public institution in the country, which, when combined with other forms of research dollars, amasses $1.15 billion annually. Their data shows that this supports 22,626 jobs and generates more than $3 billion in economic impact.

“I have to believe the big, strong research universities like the … University of Washington are creating the people that go off and employ people,” Umbach said, after noting that Penn State University conducted a study showing that its average alumnus employed 23 people.

The goal now for UW administration is to use the findings as leverage when lobbying for greater support from the state, particularly in the face of greater cuts to funding.

Regent Stanley Barer advocates taking a direct approach in speaking to the state, saying, “When you cut us by $150 million, it’s going to cost you $150 million, plus 50 cents for every dollar … so if you’re worried about your budget fix, it would seem the last thing you’d want to do is [cut funding].”

President Mark Emmert noted that the university’s direct products are not its only barometer of success, saying the UW leads the nation in the percent of alumni that stay in the state and work.

“This is all a by-product of our great university,” said Emmert, who will leave the UW for the NCAA in November. “What we produce is 12,000 highly educated, entrepreneurial people. I don’t know how to put a price on a healthy citizenry, but that’s what we provide.”

Reach reporter William Dow at news@dailyuw.com.