University of Minnesota study: systemwide activity yields $11.5 billion annual economic impact, says report

The University of Minnesota’s systemwide economic impact in 2024 was reported at $11,500,000,000, Executive Vice President Goldman told the Board of Regents during the board’s May 9 meeting.

The study’s authors, identified in board materials as Tripp Ambach and team, reported that the university’s total economic impact rose 34 percent from the prior study period. The presentation cited drivers for the increase including higher enrollment, growth in research activity, and strategic capital investment across the five campuses and statewide extension and clinical operations.

The study breaks the economic effects into multiple components. According to the presentation, the university’s research enterprise was credited with roughly $3.9 billion in annual statewide economic impact and supporting about 25,000 jobs; the academic medical enterprise generated about $2.6 billion in annual impact; and the university’s technology commercialization and startup activity were highlighted as a long-term driver of job creation and private investment.

The board heard that since the founding of the Venture Center in 2006, the university has launched more than 250 startups, and that in FY2024 a record share of newly formed startups were located in Minnesota (the presentation said 22 of 25). Presenters said startups linked to the university have raised substantial investment capital and generated exits that contribute to statewide economic activity.

Regents and senior leaders discussed how to convert the report into advocacy and public-facing messaging. Vice President Gotti and Interim Director Christine Kiel described an integrated communications and government-relations plan that will produce: one‑page district-level scorecards for legislators, localized “roadshow” engagements in districts, constituent-led advocacy through alumni networks, and targeted digital and earned-media outreach to elevate the study’s findings.

The administration told regents the materials will be shared with all 201 state legislators, and that the outreach will include a monthly “slow drip” of targeted messages to keep the study’s findings visible during and after the legislative session. President Cunningham and senior staff said they are investing in a more centralized, modern communications and government‑relations operation to sustain that work and to place the university “above the fold” in major Minnesota outlets.

Regents asked for and received assurances that communications will emphasize local narratives (how the university touches an individual legislator’s district) and recommended using commencement appearances, alumni events and regent district visits to amplify the study’s messages.

The university will present more detailed, district-level materials and a digital asset toolkit to regents and campuses for follow-up outreach, presenters said.