PrincetonUniversity
A Princeton Profile, 2004-05
Town/Gown Relations
Regional Economic Impact
With 5,291 employees, Princeton University is the largest private employer in Mercer County and one of the largest in central New Jersey.
The institution's overall regional economic impact amounted to $1.9 billion for 2003-04. This is based on the University's total expenditures of approximately $866 million ($796 million plus $70 million for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory), along with the expenditures of more than 500,000 people attending events throughout the year on campus and the expenditures of the thousands of students and employees. Included in these statistics is the $23 million economic impact of the nationally acclaimed McCarter Theatre Center, whose facility is owned by the University (McCarter programming drew approximately 200,000 visitors last year, with an operating budget of $10.3 million and approximately 150 full- and part-time employees).
The University strives to purchase goods and services in New Jersey as much as possible. Approximately 99 percent of the $175 million spent on construction and major maintenance in 2003-04 went to New Jersey firms; and 60 percent of the $81 million spent on non-construction purchases went to New Jersey firms.
Serving as a major employment center, Princeton was the source of approximately $11.7 million in New Jersey state income tax revenue from those on the University payroll. In addition, the University's intense economic activity created employment opportunities off campus at businesses and industries whose economic health is linked to the University. The non-University job-generation impact from University-related activities was estimated to be 11,000 jobs in 2003-04.
Princeton University continued to play an important role in attracting prestigious international corporations to central New Jersey, particularly to the University-developed Forrestal Center properties in Plainsboro and South Brunswick. These lands feature premier office, retail, and residential space as well as academic space, with an approximate assessed valuation of $945 million in Plainsboro and South Brunswick. The total Forrestal acreage in the two towns amounts to 2,034 acres, 654 of which the University has developed but no longer owns. Nearly 463 acres of the original Forrestal land holdings in Plainsboro on the east side of U.S. Route 1 have been preserved by the University as permanent open space. In addition, the University currently anticipates approval from South Brunswick that will lead to the preservation of a significant amount of the University's land holdings as permanent open space on the west side of U.S. Route 1 in South Brunswick. Specifically, the municipality is planning on the permanent protection of 214 acres of land that will serve as an open space buffer for both the Delaware and Raritan Canal and the Village of Kingston. Princeton University is contributing land and cash to this preservation effort. The Forrestal Center project has been lauded throughout the state as an example of responsible land use planning and quality development; it won particular praise for being New Jersey's first master planned multiuse development, preceding the New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law that prescribed such a planning procedure.
Since its inception 16 years ago, the University's Center for Photonic and Optoelectronic Materials (POEM) within the School of Engineering and Applied Science has formed research and development partnerships, with approximately 250 New Jersey-based companies (including 50 start-ups) and entrepreneurs in a wide array of fields, ranging from aviation and environmental monitoring to medicine and telecommunications. This has resulted in hundreds of new jobs, thus establishing Princeton University as a driver of the central New Jersey U.S. Route 1 corridor high-tech industry. In one year, for example, these efforts yielded more than $500 million in capital gains from out-of-state investment in the companies with which Princeton worked. Cumulatively, these activities at Princeton have generated more than $25 million in income and payroll taxes. The estimated economic impact since 1988 has been more than $1 billion. POEM's focus is on companies with fewer than 50 employees. For example, Sensors Unlimited recently was acquired for $900 million, and Epitaxx was acquired for $450 million -- both of these companies succeeding in large part because of POEM's assistance and technology. University Display Corporation of Ewing, a company that recently emerged from research at POEM, now employs more than 50 people and has retained New Jersey-educated talented people and attracted top talent from other parts of the country. Joint UDC/Princeton University commercialization efforts have attracted national and international attention on New Jersey as a world leader in organic electronics. The Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM) is a new multidisciplinary research center at the University in the general field of materials science through photonics, organic electronics, biological imaging, and bio-nano informatics. These fields are representative areas of forward-looking, interdisciplinary research led by the University in partnership with industry and government. Princeton University has just announced a major commitment of substantial resources to propel its engineering school into the top five in the nation. The recently completed strategic plan for the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) clearly identifies the school's further engagement and collaboration with industry, and it has launched an aggressive outreach effort to the venture and investment communities to make them aware of the invaluable resources at the University.
According to the Moody's Investor Service Municipal Credit Research report, the University's positive effect on the local economy and the stability of its presence is the dominant factor in the Triple A bond rating for Princeton Township and the Princeton Regional School District, and the Double A bond rating for Princeton Borough.
Expenditures, 2003-04
• Total expenditures: $866 million ($769 million plus $70 million for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory)
• Total payroll: $474.1 million (including students)
• Construction spending: $175 million; in the past decade, spending has been more than $1 billion on 500 significant projects and hundreds of small renovations
Employment, 2003-04
• Total number of employees: 5,291
• New Jersey state income taxes paid by University employees: $11.7 million
Visitors, 2003-04
• Estimated total: 550,000 (this number accounts for duplication -- for instance, many visitors attend more than one of the below-listed activities)
• McCarter Theatre: 200,000
• Athletic events: 250,000
• Concerts and performances (non-McCarter): 100,000
• Art Museum: 80,000
• Alumni-related events: 22,000 (includes Reunions Weekend and Alumni Day)
• Orange Key tours: 27,000
• Summer events (non-alumni-related conferences, camps, and academic programs): 30,000
• Commencement: 8,000 to 10,000
• Firestone Library: 18,500
• Cotsen Children's Library: 3,500
• Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL): 4,000