GW's Economic Contributions in Virginia

For the Commonwealth, GW Delivers Uncommon Value


In addition to top-flight academics and research, GW is proud of its role as an economic engine for Virginia. In fact, through the university’s capital investments, spending, employment, and income generation, GW’s total estimated economic impact on the Commonwealth is $530 million.

Within that more than half a billion dollar total, key contributions include the following:

  • 5275 jobs for Virginia created by GW, with employment spending as the largest contributor to GW’s economic impact.
  • More than 6,500 GW students are also Virginia residents, along with more than 50,000 alumni.
  • GW contributed $21.5 million to the state government through taxes and $1.9 million to local governments.


These faculty and staff and current students facilitate an educated workforce that helps increase educational attainment, skill level, and income earnings for both the Commonwealth and entire region. Moreover, the 50,000+ GW alumni residing in Virginia generate significant revenue for state and local governments, as well as economic and intellectual firepower and quality of life throughout the Commonwealth. 

To understand the full picture of GW’s impact in Virginia, please download The Economic Impact Report (pdf)


GW’s Continued Investment in the Commonwealth
Despite the past and present contributions to its Virginia communities, GW is never content to rest upon its laurels. Continued GW investment in Virginia is continually in the works. Here are just a few of the more resent enterprises undertaken by GW:

Barcroft Park Baseball Stadium

Barcroft Park

GW’s public-private partnership with Arlington County has brought baseball, community development and revenue to Barcroft Park since 1993. With $3 million in refurbishments in 2012 and a 20-year agreement, GW will pay all upgrade costs, split annual maintenance costs with the community and provide local residents with access to the park 75% of the time.
Discovery Hall

Discovery Hall

The 21,000 square feet Discovery Hall is the newest addition to VSTC’s campus innovations. Discovery Hall is equipped with teaching wet labs and related facilities, a physics scale-up lab, and a multi-purpose video-teleconferencing classroom (VTC) that will hold a minimum of 60 people and student study and gathering spaces.
Nursing Simulation Lab

New Nursing Simulation Lab

In 2015, GW cut the ribbon on its new Johnson Lab, a 3,000-square-foot virtual hospital populated by static and mid-fidelity mannequins that simulate patients—from infants to the elderly. The lifelike mannequins help nursing students practice the full scope of their clinical work and become among their profession’s best-trained leaders.
Center for Data Analytics

GW Center for Data Analytics

In 2015, GW and Telos Corporation signed a five-year agreement to support research and development projects that use high-performance computing to focus on key issues of national significance: cyber and physical security, and how algorithms and analytic tools can solve some of the major challenges facing the United States.
Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (AND) Institute

Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (AND) Institute

Created in partnership with Children’s National Medical Center and a $5 million investment from the university, (AND) Institute is poised to become one of the nation’s leading cross-disciplinary projects related to autism and neurodevelopmental disorders.