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Writing/Raúl García Hémonnet
The president of the Social Council of the Rey Juan Carlos University and president of the Conference of Social Councils of the Community of Madrid, Amancio López Seijas, presided over the presentation ceremony of the “Study on the economic and social impact of public and private universities Madrid in the region. Analysis in the short and long term.
The report, commissioned by the Conference of Social Councils of the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Education, Science Universities and Spokesperson, aims to quantify in the short term (referring to the 2018-2019 academic year) and in the long term (referring to the period 2000-2018), the impact that the activities carried out by its public and private universities have on the Madrid economy and society.
The Conference of Social Councils of the Community of Madrid, together with the Ministry of Education, Universities, Science and Spokesperson of the Community of Madrid, has recently presented, at the headquarters of the CEOE, the study "The economic and social impact of universities public and private in the region. Analysis in the short and long term” prepared by the INAECU institute.
The presentation was given by Ms. Rosario Romera, professor of statistics at Universidad Carlos III and director and coordinator of the Study. In relation to the short-term analysis, she highlighted that the Madrid University Sector as a whole in 2018 generated an income (GVA) that represents 3,15% of the regional GDP; 1,83% is attributable to the universities themselves and 1,32% to their students, visitors and congressmen. In terms of employment, Madrid universities and their agents involved have generated 103.182 full-time jobs, which represents 3,42% of full-time employment in the Community of Madrid, in 2018. 84% of all the economic impact (income) generated by students enrolled in Madrid universities, is attributed to students from outside the Community of Madrid.
Regarding the long-term analysis, the study shows that 19% of the average total growth of the Madrid economy for the period 2000-2018 is attributable to contributions from Madrid universities.
The event was attended by the presidents of the social councils of the Community of Madrid, the general director of Universities in the region, the president of CRUE Spanish Universities, the president of CRUMA, the President of CUPRIMA and the Director of the INAECU Institute.
The General Director of Universities, Ricardo Díaz Martín stressed that “the Community of Madrid invests a total of 1.083 million euros in its university system, which are intended solely to cover the structural costs of its public universities; in other words, that item does not include investment in R&D, nor investment in higher-cycle vocational training.” Which implies that “Madrid invests 4,70% of the 23.032 million total budget of the Community. One out of every 23 euros of the people of Madrid goes to their universities”. Ricardo Díaz referred to the regional proportionality linked to the contributions made by the Community of Madrid to the State and stated that “in university investment, Madrid notably exceeds all the surrounding countries and invests three times more than the rest of Spain in universities .”
In his speech, Fernando Casani, head of the INAECU Institute, presented the reports carried out by the center since 2016. These works have always been aimed at quantifying and assessing the impact of higher education on the economic and social development of the Community of Madrid, as well as how to analyze their R&D activities.
The president of the Conference of Social Councils of the Community of Madrid and president of the Social Council of the URJC, Amancio López Seijas, highlighted the usefulness of these studies and the need to "know and publicly recognize these data to understand the role that universities of Madrid have in our Community”. Likewise, López Seijas expressed the firm commitment of the Conference of Social Councils of the Community of Madrid "with the university institution to continue advancing in reaching the highest quality standards."