Report quantifies economic contribution of universities

UCL contributed £4.7 billion (€5.8 billion) and 72,100 jobs to the European economy in 2016, including £4.3 billion (€5.3 billion) and 62,360 jobs to the UK economy, according to the results of a report announced today. The study, titled 'Economic Contribution of the LERU Universities', was led by the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and is aimed at measuring the impact of those universities on the European economy in 2016. The report found that in 2016, the 23 members of LERU generated a collective economic value of €99.8 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) and 1.3 million jobs to the European economy. This demonstrates the substantial contribution that these universities make to the economy in Europe and also in the UK. The report emphasises that, though it has attempted to quantify the economic contribution of LERU universities, it sees the longer-term impact of universities as being much greater, and encompassing factors other than economic contribution and growth. LERU is an association of 23 leading research-intensive universities that share the values of high-quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research. Membership is by invitation only, and periodically evaluated against a broad set of quantitative and qualitative criteria such as research volume, impact and funding, strengths in PhD training, size and disciplinary breadth, and peer-recognised academic excellence.