For so many reasons, you can dive pretty deep into the recent analysis “Impact in Action” and recognize that no matter what lens you might look through – research to identify and solve some of the planet’s greatest challenges, Boise State’s role on national and global stages, workforce development, and so many more – it usually comes down to numbers.
So, here are the bullet points:
- Boise State generates $2.2 billion in annual economic impact to Idaho
- For every $1 of taxpayer funding invested in Boise State, there’s a $2.40 return
- 1 of 45 jobs in Idaho is supported by the activities of Boise State
Indeed, Morning Edition host George Prentice had more than a few number-related questions when he sat down with Boise State Interim President Dr. Jeremiah Shinn.
“[Boise State] cannot be the university that we were in 2919. We have to be the university that we need to be for 2030 to serve our students and the state.”
But the conversation included much more.
“I’m an optimist by nature. I believe that Boise Sate’s best days are ahead. I believe that the state’s best days are ahead.“Dr. Jeremiah Shinn
Read the full transcript below:
GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. It's important that we regularly check in with the value of a college education. We reported recently on a study where economists at the Federal Reserve looked at the costs of a college education, and then compared those costs against what students earn after graduation. They found a 12.5% rate of return, a rate that is well above the threshold for a sound investment. But that brings us to the value of a university. For our purposes, it's the value of Boise State University. Of course, there are the intangibles. They are endless, beginning with helping students achieve their potential. But there is a hefty economic analysis that we will consider this morning. It concludes that in fiscal year 2025, the total economic impact of Boise State was $2.2 billion. So here we go. Doctor Jeremiah Shinn is here, interim president at Boise State. He returned to Boise State in 2023 after serving in leadership at LSU. Prior to that, he was here at Boise State at various roles starting back in 2010. There is much to talk about, but let me first say good morning to my boss's boss's boss's boss.
DR. JEREMIAH SHINN: Good morning George. It's great to be here.
PRENTICE: Okay. Good morning. This is an impressive economic impact analysis. Let's just talk about who the audience for this is.
SHINN: Sure. Well, the audiences multiple. We have multiple stakeholders. And we want to tell this story to to all of them in, in a way that's meaningful for them. So first and foremost, we want Boise State University faculty and staff to understand the impact of the work that they're doing every day. For Idaho and for their community. That's really important to us. We also know that the taxpayers have concerns about what public universities are doing with their tax dollars, and we want them to understand the impact that their tax dollars have on the tax base of of the state. We also want legislators and decision makers to have confidence that Boise State University is working for Idaho. So I believe that this economic impact report does all of those things, and we're certainly proud to share it.
PRENTICE: It's a lot of detail. And and there are many subtopics, if you will, the spending impact from construction, the spending impact from research start up and spin off companies that are born at Boise State. The visitor spending impact visitors who come to the university and of course, the student spending impact the student civic and community impact. What I see time and again in this analysis is that for X number of dollars that go in, considerably more dollars, come back to the state of Idaho.
SHINN: That's correct. And in fact, this report found that for every dollar of direct taxpayer investment, the taxpayer will realize $2.40 in return in added tax revenue and reduced dependance on the social sector. So we're delivering taxpayer benefit at a high level.
PRENTICE: What might a student get by reading this analysis? They're living this.
SHINN: Absolutely. Well, I hope a student understands the return on investment for them. What this impact report shows is that for the average Boise State student earning a bachelor's degree, they will earn $24,000 more a year than someone without a bachelor's degree. More to that point, that's almost $1 million on average over the course of their career. As a result of their Boise State University bachelor's degree, a Boise State University student that invests in their education. So the money that they pay to to to go to class, to to live on campus, all their educational spending hours. Over the course of their career. They will receive a 16% annualized return on that investment. Had they invested the same amount of money in the stock market there, you know, when they were 18 years old, over 30 years, that would realize about a 10.9% annualized return, pretty good return, but not quite as good as a Boise State University education.
PRENTICE: You mentioned legislators. I have to assume that this message is directly to them. I mean, especially the legislature's budget writing committee. They're the ones who are going to decide what goes and what what doesn't go in your budget.
SHINN: We want the legislature to understand that Boise State is a sound investment. We're working for Idaho. And when they invest in Boise State University and its students, then that those returns come back Manyfold. And so we want them to be proud of that investment, confident in that investment in us.
PRENTICE: I've talked to a few Boise state presidents over the years right about this time. Usually it's the beginning of February. Sure, it's not their favorite time of year because of the economic fate that hangs in the balance down the street at the Capitol. How do you approach this time? Are you nervous? Are you confident? Where are you? Because these are tentative times
SHINN: They are. But I'm an optimist by nature. I'm an optimist. I believe that Boise State's best days are ahead. I believe that the state's best days are ahead. And I my experience with our legislators has have been that they are committed to to the advancement of our state. I spent the summer and part of the fall going around to visit with legislators in every corner of our state, and those conversations left me feeling more confident than than I was before. I can tell you that there's a commitment to higher education. There's a commitment to our state now that's there are complexities with the budgeting process, and all of us have to play our part. But I believe that those conversations have helped us build trust, build confidence in what we're doing. And ultimately, I believe that, um, that there will be support for Boise State University and for higher education across the state of Idaho, because there's belief in the value of it.
PRENTICE: By the end of 2025, Boise State had crafted a budget that we have to assume was practical and lean and submitted to the governor's office shortly after the new year. You're ordered to cut 3%. And then as late as this week, we've been reporting that there are more budget cuts to come. At what point do you have to have conversations, formal or informal, in public or behind closed doors on possible program cuts, furloughs and or tuition hikes?
SHINN: Sure. We're in a we're in a challenging budget budget situation, to be sure. And as we think about how to navigate this and do our part to make the reductions for for the state, everything has to be on the table. Now, I will tell you that our first priority is, is to preserve people, because we are an organization that is largely made up of people, and we're a very efficient organization, one of the more efficient universities in the country. In terms of programmatic decisions. We we're really attuned to the programs and services, both academically and non academically, that are the closest to the student experience. Our goal is to preserve those first and then as we move out. Concentric circles away from that. Then there's an increased amount of scrutiny. Now again we're pretty lean. But that doesn't mean that we can't rethink the way that we do things. I mean, higher education is is in a place not only locally but nationally where there's increased scrutiny, there are increased expectations. We cannot be the university that we were in 2019. We have to be the university that we need to be for 2030 to serve our students and the state. So we're also using this as an opportunity to curiously question how we've operated and how we might rethink the way we operate to be more efficient, more effective, more relevant both for our students and the state. And so it's a difficult exercise, George, but we also see it as an opportunity to to innovate, to be creative and to be the next version of Boise State University.
PRENTICE: I want to ask about one particular program, which is to say the Community Impact Program, which has had a fair amount of success in rural Idaho. Sure. And expanding the university's reach. You have talked and written openly about serving and protecting that connection. What can you tell us about the future of the Community Impact Program?
SHINN: Well, we've certainly found ways to support the program in the short term, and we are actively working on a strategy to support the program in the long term. I can't say much about the strategy yet. Okay. But but certainly into the future, we we're we're hopeful and confident that that we can support it into the future.
PRENTICE: But again, is it fair to say that serving rural Idaho remains a priority?
SHINN: It absolutely is a priority for us.
PRENTICE: Have to talk about the search.
SHINN: I thought you might.
PRENTICE: The Boise State presidential search is fill in the blank.
SHINN: Is paused. And I can say that there is a bill moving through the legislature right now. It just passed the Senate. It has gone over to the House side to modernize the way that presidential searches are conducted in the state of Idaho. I think this will be important not only for this search, but in the future. All of Idaho's universities will have presidential searches. And I and I do believe this legislation will, um, will make those processes, uh, a bit faster and more reliable.
PRENTICE: This will be my last question on it. Just so I understand, the reason the search has been paused is why?
SHINN: The way that the state law was previously written requires, um, five public candidates to fulfill the requirements for a presidential search. And I don't think this is just a Boise State conversation nationally. Were that the case. That's a really high bar to clear in this day and age, with presidential searches given confidentiality and just the willingness to to put one oneself out there. And so I do believe that the, the bill that's advancing through the legislature will address that and and make these conversations a bit more streamlined in the future.
PRENTICE: I lied. I have one more question.
SHINN: Okay.
PRENTICE: Why wouldn't it be you?
SHINN: Well, I'm. It's the honor of a lifetime to serve as as interim president of Boise State University, and I will I will certainly serve as long as the state board needs me to.
PRENTICE: Would you be interested?
SHINN: It is an honor to serve, and I will do so as long as I'm asked to.
PRENTICE: Thank you. Okay, so I'm I'm borrowing something from a Facebook post called Five Things to Know About You.
SHINN: Okay.
PRENTICE: You were in a rock band.
SHINN: I was.
PRENTICE: Talk to me about this.
SHINN: Yeah, when I was in college, actually, in high school, I started a band with my with my best friends from back home. And we kept playing, started writing our own music and ended up, you know, touring a little bit across the, the US and even into Canada. So yeah, we did. Yeah, very loud music. And it's, uh, it's becoming challenging today that I was around so much loud music.
PRENTICE: So you wrote original, but did you cover songs?
SHINN: Not. Not when we were touring. We did. We started off as a cover band, as most do, but then we we moved into originals and it was just one of the best times of my life.
PRENTICE: Is there proof of this?
SHINN: I'm not even sure there on the internet. This was pre music on the internet.
PRENTICE: I asked you for a recording of some of that music. Would you share it?
SHINN: Oh, I could probably, I could probably find it if you'd be interested.
PRENTICE: But I'm sorry. What was the name of the band?
SHINN: Uh, the name of the band was Linus. It wasn't a very good name.
PRENTICE: Oh.
SHINN: Yeah. And it's not the peanut character. I think it was an acronym. The the other guys in the band. The joke was it was an acronym, but they wouldn't tell me what it meant because I missed practice that day. And that's just been.
PRENTICE: You seriously didn't know what, Linus?
SHINN: Still don't know what it means.
PRENTICE: Uh, you wanted to be a doctor, but.
SHINN: But I followed a doctor around and saw what the work was and decided that's not how my brain works and not what I was interested in doing. So, um, I'm thankful to have gotten off that track and onto this one.
PRENTICE: You're obviously a Bronco fan, but you're a big fan of what NFL team.
SHINN: The Detroit Lions has been a painful existence, but less so lately.
PRENTICE: And when it comes to snacks. SHINN: I'm not very particular. But I do like Cheez-Its. PRENTICE: But not cheese nips. SHINN: No Cheese Nips.
PRENTICE: Not Cheese Nips.
SHINN: Well, there's a good reason for that.
PRENTICE: When you unplug. Tell me about what you like to do.
SHINN: When I. When I started this role, I actually got back into playing guitar and recording. And so I've been writing songs just on my own and recording at home.
PRENTICE: Oh, well, those are the recordings I really want.
SHINN: Oh, I'll bet those are the ones I'm less likely to share.
PRENTICE: Okay, so what might you want to do with that?
SHINN: It's just for me. It's, you know, when I.
PRENTICE: Play for, like, a small audience at the university.
SHINN: I'm Probably not. It's it's it's just it's it's just for me. It's the way that I can shut my brain off. And just when I'm writing or playing, that's what I'm thinking about. And it's one of the only times when I don't have just what else is going on in my life, going through my head on a loop. The other thing that we, my wife and I like to do is travel.
PRENTICE: And for somebody who really wants to travel, you would recommend where.
SHINN: You know, I think people when they start thinking about traveling, they tend to think about Europe. But I can't say enough about Southeast Asia. Um, the the people are fantastic. The food is amazing, the history and the just everything about it is, is just great. We've we've been to Thailand a couple of times and have really enjoyed it, whether it's the mountains or the beach. Um, just just amazing things happening in Southeast Asia. And so we're, uh, we're looking forward to going back there again soon.
PRENTICE: To that end, Boise State has a pretty impressive international program. The number of students from all points of the globe is so rich. And it it connects a lot of dots for us, especially at a time when we need to think outside of our borders.
SHINN: Yeah, I think about my first stint at Boise State that you mentioned from 2010 to 2019. I became acquainted with a number of of Boise State University international students, and I think about some of our international students from Nepal and just some of the some of the best students that I've ever interacted with and just brought a lot of positivity and and wisdom to our student body. And I have so much appreciation for them.
PRENTICE: Doctor Jeremiah Shinn, thank you so very much for just going along with some of my questions.
SHINN: Well, I'm glad to.
PRENTICE: But mostly thank you so much for what you do every day as an employee, but also as a journalist. I appreciate your transparency.
SHINN: Thanks, George. I appreciate you having me.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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