According a report released today, titled “Engaging Detroit: URC’s Contributions to Resurgence in the Motor City,” URC universities have a tremendous impact on the city of Detroit as its residents. That impact amounted to $958 million in economic activity to the city of Detroit in 2015, or the equivalent of $1,400 per Detroit resident.
Beyond the numbers, the report documents the URC’s commitment to the people of Detroit through teaching and research, volunteer work, business incubators and other initiatives.
“The URC universities believe in the city of Detroit and the indomitable spirit of its people,” said URC Executive Director Jeff Mason. “Detroit’s resurgence is an ongoing effort that requires the tireless work of many for the betterment of the whole, and this report brings to light the important role that our three universities have played, and will continue to play, in that effort.”
Public Sector Consultants, who authored the report, uncovered more than 340 identified programs and initiatives in which the URC universities are engaged in Detroit. Nearly one third of those programs were focused on improving education. Other URC programs focused on the arts, community building, economic revitalization, community service and public health.
The report also found that the three universities that make up the URC – Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University – contributed roughly one in 20 jobs in Detroit, or more than 11,600 jobs.
Examples of university engagement in the city included: