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UI Prez Nellis: The UI returns $9 for every $1 the state invests in it

University of Idaho President Duane Nellis gives his budget pitch to lawmakers on Monday. He said for every $1 the state invests in the UI, it gets back $9. (Betsy Russell)

The University of Idaho was ranked 153rd in the nation in the most recent U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges,” UI President Duane Nellis told lawmakers this morning. The Carnegie Foundation classified UI as a “research university with high research activity.” “Every year, we put nearly $1 bllion into Idaho’s economy,” Nellis told JFAC. “That’s roughly 2 percent of the state’s economy. In other words, we return $9 for every $1 you invest in us.”

He noted that 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt visited the UI’s Moscow campus, and said, “I am especially interested in the University of Idaho … because I know that the university represents that which shall count in the state tomorrow, and that it makes possible the growth in the 50 years to come.” Said Nellis, “A century later, his observations ring true.”

* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Eye On Boise." Read all stories from this blog