UW News

April 28, 2021

Report: UW No. 4 in country for economic impact as a result of federal research investments

Campus in bloom in springUniversity of Washington

The University of Washington is the No. 4 higher education institution in the country in terms of total economic impact as a result of federal research expenditures. The UW alone contributed $306.8 million to the U.S. gross domestic product and helped to produce more than 3,908 jobs, according to The Science Coalition’s fourth Sparking Economic Growth report, released earlier this month.

The report details the economic impact of spinoff companies created from federally funded university research and highlights 53 spinoff companies from coalition member institutions. The report features two companies that trace their roots to research activity at UW — WiBotic and Jeeva Wireless — that ultimately contributed $30.9 million to U.S. GDP and 28 jobs. It also found that federally funded university research supported nearly 100,000 jobs and contributed more than $1.3 billion to U.S. GDP across all 50 states between 2015 and 2019.

The report also ranks coalition member institutions based on economic impact as a result of federal expenditures. It’s on this list that the UW ranks fourth behind Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan and University of California, San Francisco.

The Science Coalition is a group of more than 50 of the nation’s leading public and private universities. The complete report is available here.