2009 Community Colleges of Iowa Legislative Priorities
- State General Aid increase of an estimated $13.75 million for FY 2010 based on the formula adopted by the State Board of Education.
- A long-term financial commitment of $40-60 million to the Workforce Training and Economic Development Fund is necessary to maintain and build skilled worker training capacity.
- Additional local taxing authority that returns taxing levels to 25% of revenues.
- Increased salaries and equitably distributed supplemental salary appropriations for all staff.
- Increased financial aid, particularly grant aid, for both degree seeking and skills training Community College students.

WITCC Helps State & Local Economy
December 2007
*The WITCC Service Area economy receives roughly $20.2 million in regional income annually due to WITCC operations and captial spending.
* About 8% of WITCC's students come to the area from outside regional boundaries, bringing with them monies that would not have otherwise entered the local economy. The expenditures of WITCC's out-of-region students generate roughly $57,400 in regional income in the WITCC Service Area.
* WITCC activities encourage new business, assist existing business, and create long-term economic growth. The college enhances worker skills and provides customized training to local business and industry. It is estimated that the WITCC Service Area workforce embodies about 1.2 million credit hours of past and present WITCC training.
* WITCC skills emobodied in the regional workforce where former students are employed increase local income by $235.2 million. Associated indirect effects increase income by another $53.3 million.
* Altogether, the WITCC Service Area economy annually receives roughly $308.8 million in income doe to past and present efforts of WITCC.

WITCC Leverages Taxpayer Dollars
* The state and local community will see avoided social costs amounting to $9 per year for every credit earned by WITCC students, including savings associated with improved health, lower crime costs, and reduced welfare and unemployment. This translates to $1.1 million in avoided costs to the State of Iowa each year as long as students are in the workforce.
* Students benefit from higher earnings, thereby expanding the tax base and reducing the tax burden on state and local taxpayers. When aggregated together, WITCC students generate about $15.4 million annually in higher earnings due to their WITCC education.
* WITCC yields a return on government investment. State and local government allocated around $13.3 million in support of WITCC in fiscal year 2006. For every $1 of this support, taxpayers see a cumulative return of $2 over the course of students' working careers (in the form of higher tax receipts and avoided social costs).
* State and local government see a rate of return of 8% on their support for WITCC. This return compares very favorably with private sector rates of return on similar long-term investments.

WITCC Helps Students Earn More
* A total of 24,719 credit and non-credit students attended the college in FY 2006. About 70% of these students stay in the region initially after they leave college, contributing to the local economy.
* Education increases lifetime income. The average annual income of a student with a one-year certificate is $27,200, or 83% more than someone without a high school diploma or GED, and 17% more than a student with a high school diploma. The average income of someone with an associate's degree is $32,200, or 115% more than someone without a high school diploma or GED, and 39% more than a student with a high school diploma or GED.
* WITCC students enjoy an average annual income increase of $126 for every credit completed.
* Throughout his or her working career, the average WITCC student's discounted lifetime income (i.e., future values expressed in present value terms) increases by $7.20 for ever $1 invested (tuition, fees, books, and wages given up to attend).
* Students enjoy an attractive 20% rate of return on their WITCC educational investment, recovering all costs (including wages foregone) in 7 years.