From Staff Reports 

UNC Asheville had an economic impact of $268 million in fiscal year 2012 in the Asheville metro area, according to a study released by the university in early April.

Authored by research economist Tom Tveidt at SYNEVA Economics LLC, the study concluded that economic activity generated by UNCA supports 2,492 local jobs and adds $105.5 million in local income.

Every dollar in state appropriations received by UNCA generates $2.96 in local income and $7.62 in economic output in the Asheville area, the report noted.

On-campus employment accounts for less than one-third of the local jobs that UNCA supports, the study found. More than 1,800 local jobs supported by UNCA’s economic impact are off-campus, including 442 in the retail and trade sector.

Campus operations provide about $153.54 million in economic impact, and spending by students adds another $36.3 million independent of tuition payments.

UNCA also attracts visitors who spend an estimated $4.5 million annually.

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNCA, with its nationally known weekend seminars that draw people from all over the country, leads about 100 new households to relocate to the Asheville metro area annually, raising economic output by $7.6 million.

Since the last economic impact study commissioned by UNCA in 1995, the total inflation-adjusted impact has increased more than $100 million, the university said.