Universities are not a cost to society. They could be the key to riding out WA’s resource sector downturn says Curtin University of Technology vice chancellor Lance Twomey.
A recent report from Curtin University claims that it contributes up to $870 million a year to the WA economy.
A similar report by the University of WA in 1997 concluded that university’s direct and indirect benefits to the WA economy were worth about $469 million a year.
Curtin Business School Institute for Research into International Competitiveness director Peter Kenyon said the Curtin study showed education was a good investment for the Federal Government.
“For every dollar the government spends on a student’s education, it receives $1.15 in additional tax revenue from enhanced salaries achieved as a result of Curtin University.”
The Business News 1999 Book of Lists ranks Curtin as WA’s 34th largest exporter, with export revenue of $44.9 million for the 1997-98 year and projected revenue of $49 million for the current financial year.
UWA is ranked as WA’s 53rd largest export with export revenue around half that of Curtin.
Murdoch and Edith Cowan Univer-sities are ranked 71st and 72nd respectively with the former contributing $10.8 million and the latter, $10 million a year in export earnings.
Australia’s weaker dollar has made WA universities more competitive than European and US counterparts.