Making a positive impact
Augustana College supports the economy of the Quad-Cities region and impacts the community through student education, cultural opportunities, volunteer service and more. The overall economic impact Augustana had on Illinois in fiscal-year 2020 was $147,969,988, according to The Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities.
The impact of Augustana College in the Quad-Cities community
Augustana provides business opportunities
Purchases of goods and services (including equipment purchases) in 2021-22 totaled $21,802,798. The value of construction in 2021-22 was $9,832,288.
State income taxes withheld from salaries and wages of employees in 2021-22 totaled $1,389,426.84:
- Illinois: $865,238
- Iowa: $524,188
Augustana provides jobs
The college employs 655 people (full-time and part-time) – 220 are administrators, 261 are faculty members and 181 are staff members.
Because of the college’s location on the banks of the Mississippi River, employees reside in Illinois and Iowa. In 2021-22, wages and salary payments totaled:
- Illinois residents: $18,319,872
- Iowa residents: $11,739,429
Augustana educates students
In 2022, Augustana enrolled students representing 34 states and 50 countries.
Of those enrolled at Augustana, 336 originally are from the Quad-Cities area.
Augustana students from the Quad-Cities area receive financial assistance.
Figures from the 2022-23 academic year totaled:
- $8,743,380 in grant awards for Quad-Cities area students
- $829,680 in MAP Grant awards to eligible Quad-Cities area students
- $545,544 in Pell Grant funds awarded to eligible Quad-Cities area students
Augustana financially supports its employees and their family members in the process of attaining an Augustana education. Through the tuition benefit allowance, children of employees were awarded $2,008,603 during the 2021-22 academic year.
Augustana appreciates donors
In 2022-23, gifts to the college totaled $16,496,897 with $14,777,687 coming from outside the Quad Cities.
Augustana impacts our community in many ways
Centennial Hall hosts approximately 40,000 guests for events each year.
Through the Kaleidoscope program, fine arts outreach touches approximately 500 Quad-Cities area children each year.
The Augustana Center for Speech, Language, and Hearing helps approximately 85 clients per week for speech and language, and 100-150 appointments per term for audiology.
WVIK, Quad Cities NPR, is a public service of Augustana, offering multiple broadcast signals and a growing portfolio of podcasts to the Quad Cities region. WVIK News provides a curated selection of global, national, and local news, while WVIK Classical serves classical music with a splash of folk, world, and jazz. These signals are broadcast in FM and HD as well as through WVIK.org and the WVIK app. Additionally WVIK provides APRIS, a reading service for the visually impaired, and supports the Scott County and Rock Island County EMAs.
Augustana coaches host approximately 1,000 children for athletic camps each year.
Augustana’s Fryxell Geology Museum has fostered community outreach and engagement for decades, open free-of-charge to the public seven days per week when Augustana classes are in session. In academic year 2022-2023, the museum presented scheduled free educational programming to more than 3,500 community families and school children. Additionally, the museum estimates 8,500 community members visited the museum for self-guided tours during the 2022-2023 year.
Augustana regularly hosts conference groups including the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Assembly and the Midwest Great Debate of the National Hispanic Institute.
The college is proud to offer diversity-focused, large-scale events for the benefit of the campus and the community. In 2022 Augustana hosted the Beyoncé Mass and held the inaugural address in a Global Lecture Series featuring Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. In February 2023 college and community members packed Centennial Hall for the Step Afrika! Performance, one of the top 10 African American dance companies in the United States.