Boise State University students are now nearly one month into the 2017 fall semester and today university President Bob Kustra said new records have already been set, starting with this year's freshman class.
These achievements were announced during Kustra's annual State of the University address Tuesday afternoon.
The 2017 freshman class is the largest BSU has ever seen and total enrollment is also at an all-time high.
“In the Treasure Valley alone, Boise State has a $589 million impact to the region, we have created over 3,349 direct jobs in the region, 6,509 total jobs including direct and indirect,” announced Kustra.
Kustra says those jobs range from a number of industries, including health care and real estate and include key partnerships with local corporations like Albertsons.
“We're in partnership with Boise State University, they are helping us develop the criteria and actually doing the teaching for our employees for across the entire country,” said Brad Street, Albertsons’ Intermountain Division President.
And along with generating work, Kustra says BSU graduates are opting to stay in state.
“Eighty percent of our Idaho students at Boise State are with us five years after graduation,” he said.
And 45 percent of out-of-state students stay in the Gem State for at least five years after as well.
When factoring in those returning alumni, Kustra estimates the university's total economic impact on the state to be $1 billion, a figure that hasn't yet been finalized in an economic report.
“I think what Kustra and the university has been able to do here for our economy and for our work base is just been phenomenal,” added Street.
All of the financial data and job totals in Kustra's address are based on a report by Tripp Umbach, an economic analysis group.
The report also estimates that university operations generated $34 million in state and local taxes in 2015.