Why the jobs outlook is bright for 2024 college grads
Each spring, thousands of college students across Connecticut complete their undergraduate studies, while they work on another project: landing a full-time job.
For the class of 2024, the probability of acing that first post-graduation assignment is high. There are about twice as many open positions across Connecticut today as there were 10 years ago. Officials at the state’s public colleges and universities are encouraged by the abundance of jobs, but they are also mindful of the significant fiscal pressure on their institutions. They said that they remain committed to providing quality career services, while business leaders are pursuing their own initiatives to help keep college graduates in the state.
“A lot of what we’re engaged in right now is really trying to rethink how we best utilize the resources that we have and leverage them for optimal success,” said University of Connecticut Associate Vice Provost Jim Lowe, who is executive director of the UConn Center for Career Development. “There’s a lot of creative thinking around how we expand programmatic offerings, how we do that in the classroom.”
While the class of 2024 was studying these past few years, the state’s work force was reshaped by the disruption unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among its effects, the pandemic precipitated a wave of early retirements in a number of industries. That trend helps explain why Connecticut’s labor force, which includes those employed and those looking for work, was about 1 per
cent smaller in February 2024 than it was in February 2020, according to data from the state Department of Labor.
Employers across the state, including those in large sectors such as health care and manufacturing, now have many positions to fill. The state had about 89,000 job openings in January 2024 — down from 95,000 in January 2023, but more than double the total of 44,000 in January 2014, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Based on recent trends, employers in Connecticut can expect a significant portion of this year's graduates to stay in the state. Among in-state undergraduate students at UConn who received degrees in August 2022, December 2022 and May 2023, 75 percent stayed in the state for jobs, up from 69 percent in the previous year, according to a report on post-graduation outcomes issued in January 2024 by the university.
“There is very high interest from Connecticut businesses in hiring qualified graduates from Connecticut's colleges and universities,” said Chris DiPentima, CEO and president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association.
UConn was set to award degrees to about 5,800 undergraduate students this month, and interviews with a few of them show how they are launching their careers in Connecticut.
Briana Ford, who majored in human development and family sciences, started parttime last month in Stamford at Connec-to-Talk, a provider of applied behavior analysis therapy, which is a widely used treatment for children with autism. She will start working as a full-time therapist at Connec-to-Talk right after graduating from UConn this weekend.
“Because of UConn, I'm able to have so many different calendars around my house,” Ford, who attended high school at the Fairchild Wheeler campus in Bridgeport, said of the time-management skills she developed while in college. “That's a huge skill that I'm going to take into the work force with me, just making sure that everything is organized and knowing to show up on time.”
At the same time, there are many students who will be moving on to graduate programs, but who intend to eventually work in Connecticut. Louise Estiverne, an aspiring therapist who majored in psychology at UConn, is planning to start in the fall a two-year master's program in social work at Quinnipiac University. A tuition grant for her studies at Quinnipiac requires her to work in Connecticut in the first two years after completing the program.
“I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to find work because the social-work field is growing,” said Estiverne, who attended Central High School in Bridgeport. “Even if I were to change my mind and not want to be a therapist anymore, I'd still have those skills. We need social workers, and we need therapists.”
UConn numbers
Of the UConn undergraduates who received degrees in August 2022, December 2022, and May 2023, about 92 percent “were in pursuits of their choosing within six months,” according to the university's report. Of those recent graduates, 58 percent said that they were employed and 33 percent said that they were pursuing further education.
The 92 percent success rate for six-month outcomes was the university's “highest figure since it started tracking the outcomes in 2016 and also well exceeds the national average of 86 percent,” the report said.
In the report, UConn officials also cited the impact of the university's career services. About 83 percent of students who received undergraduate degrees in August 2022, December 2022 and May 2023 reported using the Center for Career Development's services, compared with an average of 54 percent of undergraduates at other institutions across the country. Those interactions include one-on-one sessions, participation in career-related presentations, attendance of career fairs and the use of resources from the center's website.
Recent graduates who used the center's services while at UConn were earning an average of about $4,000 more annually in their jobs than those who did not use those services, according to the report.
“Clearly, we have worldclass programs, and we do a really good job of communicating the value proposition of those programs to our student population,” Lowe said.
While the career prospects are generally bright for college students in Connecticut who are graduating this year, the long-term financial outlook for their schools is cloudier.
Connecticut State Colleges & Universities Chancellor Terrence Cheng has warned of the possibility of further programming and staff cuts, as well as additional tuition increases, if CSCU does not receive more state funding to help tackle a predicted budget shortfall of approximately $48 million in the 2025 fiscal year.
The projected total budget deficit in the 2025 fiscal year for UConn's main campus in Storrs and its regional campuses, as well as the UConn Health system, is about $151 million, according to UConn officials.
“What makes that so painful and so tragic is that it hurts students,” Cheng said in February. “When you're not able to offer the appropriate number and level of courses to students, it slows down their graduation, and ultimately it slows their ability to get into the work force... When you don't give them the career counseling that they need, the academic advising — when you don't give them the things that 21st-century students need, it hurts students.”
Last month, the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee decided against adjusting the second year of Connecticut's $51 billion biennial budget.
But the fiscal predicament of UConn and CSCU could improve if legislative leaders follow through on recent statements indicating that more funding for higher education could be delivered by using unspent federal pandemic relief money and shifting some funds within the budget.
Lowe expressed confidence that the Center for Career Development could withstand any changes in funding levels.
“Ten years ago, career conversations typically weren't happening in the classroom. Today they are,” Lowe said. “We're getting the messaging to students around career readiness through both curricular as well as co-curricular activities.”
Homegrown pipeline
Business leaders, meanwhile, are working on their own initiatives to strengthen the pipeline of homegrown college graduates into the state's work force.
The CBIA's proposals include tax credits for businesses that offer tuition reimbursement, savings accounts with employer matches for firsttime homebuyers, as well as tax credits for apprenticeships and internships.
“Increasing the number of Connecticut college and university students who stay in state after graduation is a key lever in unlocking Connecticut's tremendous economic potential,” DiPentima said. “This is why more and more Connecticut businesses are engaging with college students earlier in their college journey. It is also why Connecticut businesses are embracing apprenticeship, internship and/ or tuition reimbursement programs.”