Tulane’s economic impact on Louisiana has surged since the last such study the university commissioned in 2019, which credited Tulane with a $3.14 billion annual impact. The increased economic impact of Tulane reflects its significant growth trajectory under Fitts, as he marks his 10th year at the helm of the university.

In New Orleans alone, Tulane’s impact now reaches $2.3 billion annually and supports more than 17,000 local jobs, according to the report. Tulane is also a significant source of “brain gain” for the region, attracting renowned scientists, scholars and high-achieving students who may not otherwise have made Louisiana home. This is particularly significant with the most recent census data showing that the New Orleans metro area lost 45,000 residents from 2020 to 2023, the steepest decline of any large metro area in the country.

The higher earnings of Tulane graduates alone support roughly $461 million in economic activity within the state, fostering approximately 2,320 additional jobs with a resultant impact in New Orleans estimated at $219 million annually.

“These results should come as no surprise, given the lasting impacts Tulane University has had on our state and the city of New Orleans for generations. The economic benefits, high-paying jobs and new projects Tulane continues to pursue help make the university and the city of New Orleans a premiere location for students across the globe,” said Gov. Jeff Landry. “With Tulane’s continued commitment to our state, I am confident we can make Louisiana a place where people want to stay and grow their business and family. Roll Wave!”

Hiring thousands of employees, attracting federal and private research funding, undertaking historic construction projects and spurring economic activity through student and visitor spending, as well as ancillary services and expenditures in salaries, purchasing and more are ways in which the report reveals how the university creates a “virtuous cycle” that helps build better lives for all. The survey covers the university’s footprint across the uptown and downtown campuses, the Tulane National Primate Research Center in Covington and clinical sites for Tulane Doctors, including University Medical Center New Orleans and East Jefferson, Lakeside and Lakeview hospitals, as well as Children’s Hospital New Orleans. 

“Tulane has been an incredible anchor and driver for our local economy for decades through the creation of high-paying jobs, talent recruitment and transformative projects like its $600 million historic downtown expansion,” said City Council President Helena Moreno. “Studies like these demonstrate that our city is on the right track toward building a better and more prosperous economy thanks to the work of Tulane, and we look forward to our continued partnership in the years to come.”

Major construction projects fueling Tulane’s impact include the seven-story River and Lake Residence Halls, which opened last year as the first installment of The Village, a complex of five new residence halls on the uptown campus. Steven and Jann Paul Hall, a new 76,000-square-foot home for the School of Science and Engineering, opened earlier this year, and construction is also ongoing on the expansion and modernization of Richardson Memorial Hall, home of the Tulane School of Architecture.

The report found that Tulane’s $166 million average yearly capital investments for such projects generate approximately $315 million in statewide economic impact, supporting 1,990 jobs with $94 million in employee compensation.

In addition, local restaurants, retail stores and service providers experience dramatic increases in customers and revenue due to Tulane’s presence, while visitor spending during athletic games, campus events, alumni reunions and other celebrations brings significant economic benefits to the region. Ancillary spending by students, patients and visitors generates $223 million, sustaining around 1,560 direct and indirect jobs throughout Louisiana, according to the report.

The study also examined Tulane’s announcement of a major expansion of its downtown campus with approximately $600 million in planned new construction and enhancements, including a transformation of the Charity Hospital building into a hub of bioscience discovery and the repurposing of the Tulane Medical Center building into a center for health care education and treatment.

The downtown initiative presents a unique opportunity for Tulane to lead the way in diversifying the city’s economy in a fundamental and long-lasting way, similar to the successes other cities have experienced through the presence of a major research university located in their urban core.

“For nearly two centuries, Tulane University has been a cornerstone of New Orleans, and this economic impact study underscores just how vital the university is to our region’s prosperity,” said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. “Under President Michael Fitts’ leadership, Tulane’s expansion and innovation are transforming our region by fostering growth and attracting talent. Tulane exemplifies the adage that the way to create a great city is to create a great university and wait 200 years!”

With its expansion, Tulane’s downtown campus will become a thriving center of cutting-edge research and innovation featuring a new nursing program to address the critical labor shortage in this field. The expansion will also include a new and larger home for the Tulane Innovation Institute which is primed to accelerate the pace at which new ideas and scientific discoveries are brought to the market. There will also be much-needed additional spaces for clinical research programs and educational space for students in public health, social work, professional advancement and medicine.

The Charity Redevelopment Project seeks to serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of downtown New Orleans, generating a $1.2 billion impact on the state economy, creating a one-time impact of approximately 7,300 jobs and producing $10.5 million in state tax revenues. Once completed, the Charity Redevelopment Project will create 1,200 direct jobs, ongoing support of 2,460 jobs and an annual impact on the state economy of $530 million.

Looking ahead, Tulane’s impact on the state is expected to continue to grow over the next decade with a projected 26 percent increase in combined in-person and online student enrollment and a 9 percent expansion of its operating budget. Achieving these growth levels is expected to amplify Tulane’s economic footprint in Louisiana to an estimated $6.1 billion, according to the report.

Tulane’s building boom 

From the Malkin Sacks Commons to the Goldring-Woldenberg Business Complex, from the Steven and Jann Paul Hall for Science and Engineering to the Richardson Memorial Hall renovation/addition, Broadmoor, a New Orleans construction company, has played a major role in the stunning physical transformation of Tulane’s uptown campus. 

While Broadmoor has led construction and renovation projects across the New Orleans area — the Caesars Superdome, Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium, and the Saenger Theater, among them — the company’s president, Ryan Mouledous, considers Tulane to be one of its core customers. 

Broadmoor is not alone. At any given time, there are multiple companies working on everything from office renovations to laboratory expansion, residence hall construction to roof repairs.  

“What Tulane has been able to do is to consistently invest in the community by building facilities and providing consistent opportunities for construction companies and craft labor,” Mouledous said. “They are not only giving their students and faculty a quality product, but they are providing jobs for New Orleanians to build those facilities — carpenters, plumbers, flooring installers, project managers.” 

On average, Tulane’s annual capital investment generates approximately $162 million total economic impact within Orleans Parish, supporting 1,070 jobs, with $50 million in employee compensation, according to the report. Tulane has a $307 million total economic impact within the Greater New Orleans area, supporting 1,960 jobs with $93 million in employee compensation.

Broadmoor, which renovated the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life in 2007, is currently building Avron and Wendy Fogelman Hall and completing the renovation/addition to Richardson Memorial, home of the School of Architecture. 

“Tulane has consistently kept projects on the drawing board, and the beneficiaries are the people who get to build those buildings and have a stable income. Tulane has set an expectation and raised the bar in terms of what they want and how they want it.”

He credited Fitts and Patrick Norton, senior vice president and chief operating officer, with leading Tulane into what he called “the golden era of construction on that campus. I would challenge anyone to name another university in the country that has made that kind of investment.”

Driving innovation in New Orleans

Josh McCoy is the founder of Tipzy, a song-requesting app that venues can use to learn their patron’s music preferences and curate playlists that align with the venue’s vibe. Rich Simmerman founded Cantaloupe AI, a hiring tool that uses artificial intelligence to conduct first-round interviews and predict the likelihood of early turnover.

Both McCoy and Simmerman, whose businesses are based in New Orleans, are recent Tulane graduates who credit their early success to the university’s commitment to developing the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators. 

“Tulane played a pivotal role in shaping the creation, mindset and execution of our product,” said McCoy, who holds a Bachelor of Science of Management degree in finance and computer science and a master’s in accounting from the A. B. Freeman School of Business. “I’ve always been entrepreneurial, but Tulane brought out the best in me.”

“Tulane played a huge role in our success,” said Simmerman, who holds an MBA from Freeman. “Tulane gave us the ability to build, measure, learn, fail and ultimately succeed — all within the safety of being a student with access to Tulane’s investor, advisor and business community.”

The university’s report singles out the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Freeman along with the Tulane University Innovation Institute (TUII) as examples of the breadth of resources available to students, faculty and staff as they develop their ideas. 

The Lepage Center offers the Student Venture Incubator, which enables students to take an idea from inception to launch, guided by faculty and mentors. This experience gives students the opportunity to learn first-hand the skills to assess opportunities, develop business models and marketing strategies. TUII provides resources to support proof of concept, pre-seed startup funding, due diligence and commercialization efforts by emerging companies and technologies. 

“I believe the Tipzy team has had a lot of successes, but we are far from successful,” McCoy said. “This mentality comes directly from the culture of the great Tulane mentors, who always remind you not to get too high or too low.”

Simmerman, who founded Ceres Plant Protein Cereal as an MBA student, agreed. “At one point I had too many ideas to stay focused, but Rob Lalka (professor of practice and executive director of the Lepage Center) took me seriously and gave me advice that shaped the next steps in my journey.”

Big bucks pumped into local economy

Part of the fun of being a Tulane student is getting off campus and exploring New Orleans. With so much to offer in terms of culture, dining, entertainment and more, it’s no wonder they account for a sizeable chunk of spending in New Orleans and beyond.

In fact, spending by students was calculated at just over $130.9 million a year, with off-campus students — who among other things, pay rent and buy groceries — spending the most at just over $113 million, according to the report. 

“My friends and I definitely spend money going grocery shopping,” said Paris Gingold, an off-campus junior from Los Angeles. “And we love going to dessert places like Yogurtland and Creole Creamery.”  

They also spend money on ride shares and at nail salons and restaurants, especially those on Freret and Magazine streets, she said. 

Like Gingold, Benjamin Boatend, a junior from New York City, does a fair bit of grocery shopping. He enjoys cooking, and because of his Ghanaian background, is often buying ingredients for his favorite Ghanaian dishes. “I tend to go grocery shopping a lot, which equals me taking Ubers to and from my house,” he said. 

He also keeps up with entertainment calendars, as attending concerts is one of his favorite things to do. “Since coming to Tulane I have been to Pitbull, State Champs, Nicki Minaj and others,” Boatend said.

Edward Sha, a sophomore from San Jose, California, said his main contributions to the New Orleans economy are the money he spends on transportation, sometimes to Metairie, where he enjoys shopping at Lakeside Shopping Center.

“I always book Ubers ahead of time between the airport and campus, and occasionally, I use Lyft to get around,” Sha said. “I use the streetcar on St. Charles and the RTA (Regional Transit Authority) bus on Freret to get around when my destinations are on those roads.”

Like most Tulane students, he enjoys the city’s dining scene. “I spend a lot of time getting out and eating off-campus or ordering in from local restaurants,” he said. 

Falling in love with Tulane, investing in New Orleans 

It wasn’t just Nick and Ethan Surfas of Laguna Beach, California who fell hard for Tulane University and New Orleans. So did their parents. 

The couple had never been to New Orleans but immediately fell in love with the culture, the architecture, the music and the food. “It was August when we toured, and it was deathly hot,” Marci Surfas said, “but it didn’t matter. We loved it.” 

“I feel like we’re really contributing to the economy, because we’re here all the time,” she said. “We eat at all the restaurants; we stay at the hotels.” 

Nick graduated in 2024, and Ethan will follow in 2025. Her youngest son, Jackson, is now a senior in high school, and like his brothers, hopes to attend Tulane. 

Regardless of where he ends up, the Surfas’s say they will always be a part of the New Orleans community. “We’ve talked about living here when we retire,” Surfas said. “We are absolutely sold on New Orleans.”