Student Spending

More than 3,000 students enrol in Brandon University every year.

Brandon University is a magnet for young people and students, and attracts more than 3,000 students to study, live and work in Brandon. Full-time student spending contributes an estimated $36 million every year to the economies of both Brandon and Manitoba.

In 2014–15, the Brandon University student body of full-time, part-time and PENT [1] students comprised 3022 students. It has grown significantly since then. The breakdown for 2014–15 is as follows:

Table 3. Student Numbers at Brandon University for 2014/2015 (Regular session as of Nov 1, 2015)

Headcount for Regular sessions

International Students

Full-time Undergraduate Part-time Undergraduate Full-time Graduate Part-time Graduate Full-time Total Part-time Total
95 48 15 5 110 53

Canadian Students

Full-time Undergraduate Part-time Undergraduate Full-time Graduate Part-time Graduate Full-time PENT Full-time Total Part-time Total
1884 684 100 181 50 1994 865

Total Student Enrolment

Full-time Students Part-time Students Total
2104 918 3022

For Brandon University student enrolments, approximately 87% of students are from Manitoba, 8% of students are from out of province and 5% are international.  Of the Manitoba students, 26% or 691 students graduated from Brandon School Division high schools, 74% are from outside of Brandon but within Manitoba. The spending for full-time students is calculated in Table 4.

Table 4. Student Spending for 2014/2015

Student Spending for 2014/2015

Student spending forms an important component of the economic impact of Brandon University. Although many Brandon University students live at home, others stay in the residence (278) or rent accommodation off campus. The Sudmant Method uses a counterfactual argument for calculating student spending, meaning university students have to go somewhere for their education, if they chose a location other than Brandon University this spending would be lost. Therefore, using the Sudmant Method, all full-time students are used in the calculation of student spending.

Total Full-time Students 2,104
Monthly Living Expenses 1,645.50
Academic Months 8
Total Annual Spending $M 27.7
Less Student Scholarships, Bursaries & Awards $M 1.3
Less Residence Payments $M 2.4
Total Direct (Resident Room & Board) $M 24.0
Multiplier 1.5×
Total Student Spending Impact $M 36.0

Note: Monthly living expenses for students were provided by the Brandon University Students’ Union

Part-time students are not included in the student impact analysis using this method. The rationale used for excluding them is the absence of a local university would result in at least some students not attending any university, and part-time students are a conservative proxy for this effect (after University of Calgary 2013). Approximately 30 percent of the students at Brandon University are categorized as part-time, so the impact analysis using the Sudmant Method tends to undervalue student spending for universities with a large part-time student population.

The estimated full-time student spending impact for the 2014/2015 fiscal year is $36.0M for both Brandon and Manitoba (the majority of students will stay within commuting distance of Brandon University).

  1. Program for the Education of Native Teachers (PENT) Students April – July semester
  2. Monthly living expenses for students were provided by the Brandon University Student Union