Oct 29, 2025 By Garrett Neese 4 min read

Waynesburg University President Douglas Lee likes to relate a story about one of his predecessors, Paul Stewart, who gave students each a $1 bill.

They were marked to show they came from the university.

And the students, as they do, went out and spent.

“And the people said, ‘You wouldn’t believe how many times those dollars circulated through town,'” Lee said.

That impact showed up recently in a more deeply researched form, albeit one less lucrative for students.

Waynesburg University contributes about $104 million to Pennsylvania’s economy annually, according to a recent report showing the economic impact of the state’s independent colleges.

The latest installment of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania’s report came out in August, detailing job creation, student and visitor spending, tax revenues and other contributions made by the state’s more than 80 higher education institutions.

In all, the schools generate $29 billion annually, the report said.

“This is one of the five biggest economic generators in Pennsylvania,” said AICUP President Tom Foley. “It is more than coal and natural gas put together.”

Waynesburg and Washington & Jefferson College in Washington make up part of the 13-school Pittsburgh metropolitan region, which the report found to have a total impact of $5.1 billion.

Despite multiple attempts to secure comment, representatives from Washington & Jefferson provided no response.

Greene is one of 14 counties in the state where an independent university is one of the county’s top 10 employers.

“We don’t think of higher ed that way, an economic generator,” Foley said. “But obviously it is, and in a place like Waynesburg, it’s a very significant player.”

Waynesburg contributes about $8.2 million a year in state and local taxes, said Lee, who also serves as a chair of the AICUP board.

It’s also contributed to economic impact in measures such as a partnership with Greene County on a business incubator to be located in the Silveus Building in downtown Waynesburg, and through new facilities such as the Center for Criminal Justice and Forensic Investigation, which also has a training center for local law enforcement, Lee said.

And it’s collaborated with other regional universities, such as a joint study with Carnegie Mellon University on ways to reduce food insecurity in Greene County.

The university also provides aid through its service learning programs, which contribute 30,000 hours of service annually to 43 state and local agencies.

“That helps those agencies and nonprofits that may not have the resources to hire people, but they get students who are here at the university,” Lee said. “They’re engaged in a learning process on campus, and then they get to apply those learning skills through these service programs.”

Between volunteer hours and charitable giving, the independent schools create more than $200 million in philanthropy, according to the report.

Waynesburg University is also partnering with local groups to create a master plan through the Appalachian Regional Commission for creating opportunities for community engagement and learning, Lee said.

This is the second iteration of the report, launched by Foley when he became president of AICUP. The report is put together by the Parker Strategy Group, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm.

Five years on, Foley thought there was a need for another. Most of the numbers have changed — almost all of them showing a bigger impact than before, he said.

The only number to stay static was the number of jobs supported and sustained by the colleges, which stayed flat at around 195,000, Foley said. The $1.1 billion in revenue from state and local property taxes jumped to $1.5 billion. And the economic impact rose from $22 billion to $29 billion.

Compared to other states, where independent schools educate a more elite slice of the population, they cover a wider demographic base in Pennsylvania, Foley said.

The independent schools educate 69% of the state’s nursing graduates, 45% of all graduates with teaching certifications and 58% of all STEM graduates.

“The schools are nimble,” Foley said. “They’re not huge, like a Penn State or a Pitt. They can adapt to what the needs are.”

The full report can be found online at tinyurl.com/rr9mx6zj.