This indicator identifies residents in Connecticut, 25-34 years old, with at least an Associate’s Degree. This data is collected by the Population Reference Bureau and the American Community Survey, both of which serve under the U.S. Census Bureau. Based upon the timeline of data collected, the percent of residents with an Associate’s degree or higher has slowly been increasing since 2005. Bachelor Degrees have consistently been the largest segment of degree holders in Connecticut, followed by graduate degrees, and lastly associate degrees. This gradual increase has maintained Connecticut’s top rankings for individuals 25-34 years old with an Associate’s Degree or higher, placing third in the nation in 2013. This consistent ranking has been built up over the years as a result of having higher than national averages for Bachelor’s and Graduate degrees despite being at, or sometimes below the national average for Associate’s Degrees.

Connecticut’s data matches much of the nation when broken down by ethnicity and gender. Women have consistently been more likely than men to have an Associate’s Degree or higher. According to further disaggregation by the ACS, men still hold a slight advantage over women at the state level for Professional school degrees and Doctorate degrees. Along racial/ethnic lines, the percentage of black/African American adults obtaining an Associate’s degree or higher continues to be substantially less than the percentage of white, non-Hispanic adults. The overall percentage of 25-34 year-olds with at least an Associate’s degree between 2013 and 2014 declined by .40 percentage points to 48%. Research found males declined 2 percentage points, females gained by one, white’s rebounded with a nearly ten percentage point increase, and blacks gained by nearly a third percentage point.

The impact of obtaining at least an Associate’s is felt immediately upon the wallets of individuals and can be felt for years to come. On average, an individual 25 years or older working full-time in the U.S. makes anywhere from 19% more with an Associate’s degree to around 238% more with a Doctoral degree, per week, than full-time workers with only a high school diploma. Those pay increases are matched by a greater likelihood to be participating in the work force. These individuals go on to have a better standard of living for themselves, their spouses, and any children they may raise.

To ensure Connecticut continues to maintain some of the highest levels of educational achievement in the United States, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Committees on Education and Higher Educational are responsible for actively crafting and shepherding legislation that will improve and expand the opportunities for all children in the state to obtain the highest level of education possible.

• Office of Higher Education
• Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund) CWEALF
• Board of Regents
• CT Students for a Dream

• Increase the reach, funding, and capacity of college access programs.
• Focus on retention, completion and increased use of student support services.
• Support competency-mastery based learning and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for admissions and for college credit toward program completion.
• Implement universal free tuition for community college and first two years of 4-year college.
• Increase place-based local scholarship and support programs.
• Increase partnerships with local colleges and universities
• Incentivize completion through conversion of loans to grants upon completion of course or program of study.
• Increase integration of work and learning.
• Increase support for full-time college attendance.
• Reward and incentivize institutions for serving and graduating low-income and less academically prepared students.

These strategies were collected from the Sixteen Strategies for Widening Equity of Participation in Higher Education in the United States: Reflections from International Comparisons Section of "Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States 45 Year Trend Report 2015 Revised Edition" by The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education & The University of Pennsylvania Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy.