Disconnected Youth: Fewer in Connecticut Than Nationally; Disparities Reduced But Continue

Fewer young people across the country are disconnected from school and work today than were before the Great Recession, according to new national data. The 2015 youth disconnection rate, 12.3 percent, is below the 2008 rate of 12.6 and well below the 2010 youth disconnection peak, 14.7 percent. All of Connecticut’s five Congressional Districts show lower rates of disconnected youth than the national average.

That’s a 16 percent drop over five years translates to roughly 900,000 fewer young people cut off from pathways that lead to independent, rewarding adulthoods, according to data compiled by the Social Science Research Council.

The report, “Promising Gains, Persistent Gaps,” compares the degree of youth disconnectedness in Congressional Districts across the country.

Disconnected youth are teenagers and young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither in school nor working. Being detached from both the educational system and the labor market during the pivotal years of emerging adulthood can be dispiriting and damaging to a young person, and the effects of youth disconnection have been shown to follow individuals for the rest of their lives, resulting in lower incomes, higher unemployment rates, and negative physical and mental health outcomes. The harms accrue not only to young people themselves, but reverberate across time and place, making youth disconnection a national concern that must be addressed by society at large.

Youth disconnection rates vary enormously by congressional district—from an impressively low rate of 4.4 percent in Wisconsin District 2, the mostly urban Madison area, to an alarmingly high rate of 23.1 percent—or nearly one in every four young people—in Kentucky District 5 in rural Appalachia.

Connecticut fares relatively well.  Northeastern and Midwestern congressional districts have lowest rates of youth disconnection, 11.1 percent on average.

Connecticut’s best ranked Congressional district is the 2^nd, in Eastern Connecticut, with an 8.7 percent of youth ages 16-24 disconnected, ranking 60^th among the nation’s 435 Congressional districts.  Next best if Connecticut’s 5^th district, in Western Connecticut, ranked 116^th with 9.9 percent disconnected youth.  The 3^rd C.D. ranks 134^th, at 10.1 percent; the 4^th C.D ranks 104^th with 10.3 percent; and the 1^st C.D. ranks 167th at 10.9 percent.

On average, a gap of 7.4 percentage points separates the best and worst districts within a state. Connecticut’s gap is only 2.2 percentage points.

The greatest disparity is found in New York State; a worrisome 15.2 percentage points separate New York’s District 20 in the Albany area (7.1 percent) and District 15 in New York City’s South Bronx (22.3 percent).

The most equitable state in terms of youth disconnection is also found in the Northeast; a nearly negligible 0.1 point separates Maine’s District 1, which hugs the southern coast and includes the capital, Augusta (9.8 percent), and District 2, a more rural district that encompasses most of the state (9.7 percent).

The analysis found that nationally, young women are slightly less likely to be disconnected than young men. And there is “astonishing variation in disconnection rates by race and ethnicity.” The share of young people cut off from workforce and educational opportunities, the report found, ranges from only one in fourteen Asian American youth to more than one in four Native American youth. The Asian American youth disconnection rate is 7.2 percent; the white rate is 10.1 percent; the Latino rate is 14.3 percent; the black rate is 18.9 percent; and the Native American rate is 25.4 percent.

The report concludes that “at-risk youth need the kind of support from communities and institutions that other young people take for granted: safe places to live and food on the table; caring adults to help them navigate the often-bewildering transition from child to adult; opportunities to try new things, to fail, and to try again; and experiences that build not just hard and soft skills for the marketplace, but also self-knowledge, agency, and confidence.”

$93 Million in Tax Credits to Film, Digital Industries in Connecticut

An estimated $349 million was spent in Connecticut by qualified productions and $93 million in tax credits were issued to 25 media production companies under the state’s tax credit program during fiscal year 2016.  The tax credits are designed to boost the state’s economy by attracting film and digital productions to the state, creating employment opportunities for state residents. According to the Office of Film, Television and Digital Media, which supports and enhances Connecticut’s film, television and digital media industry, companies are provided with direct financial assistance programs, including but not limited to loans, grants, and job expansion tax credits structured to incentivize relocation to Connecticut and the growth and development of current Connecticut-based companies.

The breakdown by industry segment:

• Production Companies - $188 million spent; $56 million in tax credits issued
• Film Infrastructure - $106 million spent, $21 million in tax credits
• Digital Animation - $54 million spent; $15 million in tax credits

Film infrastructure tax credits went to companies including ESPN in Bristol and NBC Universal in Stamford; Digital Animation tax credits to Blue Sky Studios in Greenwich.

The production companies receiving tax credits from the state included well-known names such as A&E, Connecticut Public Broadcasting, ESPN, World Wrestling Entertainment and Bob’s Discount Furniture, which received just under a million dollars in tax credits under the program.

The legislation, first approved in 2006 and amended twice during the past decade, makes it possible for eligible production companies to receive a tax credit on a sliding scale of up to 30 percent on qualified digital media and motion picture production, pre-production and post production expenses incurred in the state. The Office “actively assists local, national and international motion picture, TV and media production entities with finding locations in Connecticut, rules and procedures, securing permits, hiring local cast and crew and other services,” according to the agency’s website.  In addition, the Office “represents the state and its agencies, municipalities and resident media professionals in interactions with media production entities and the industry at large.”

The popular reality courtroom drama “The People’s Court” announced this month plans to move to a new location on Stamford’s West Side. The show’s production company, Ralph Edwards/Stu Billett Productions, is moving its headquarters to an 18,739-square-foot space at 470 West Ave., from its current space at 300 Stillwater Avenue in the city. Ralph Edwards/Stu Billett Productions received nearly $4 million in tax credits in fiscal year 2016, spending just over $13 million in the state on a number of prominent program productions.

This summer, a digital training program will provide courses at the UConn Stamford Campus including social media management, web design and development, and manipulating digital content.  Digital Media CT (DMCT) is developed in partnership by the Connecticut Office of Film, Television & Digital Media and the University of Connecticut Digital Media & Design Department. It has been designed for individuals who want to develop the basic skills necessary to seek work in the industry or enhance their current skill set and advance their careers.

The program is described as most appropriate for individuals with prior or current professional experience in the industry, college graduates with majors in communications, film, television, marketing, and digital media, or students currently enrolled in relative academic coursework.

Later this year from Blue Sky:

https://youtu.be/jyJgGsZo2wA

New Facilities at Southern, UConn Stress Science Education, Careers

In the fall of 2015, Connecticut’s efforts to encourage science careers among students attending state colleges ramped up with the opening of a new Science and Laboratory Building on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, and the groundbreaking for a Science and Engineering Building at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Both projects are back in the news.

Southern’s Academic Science & Laboratory Building has been certified LEED® Gold, placing it among the top one-third most sustainably designed certified buildings in the state.  The building saves the university 34 percent on its energy consumption and reduces water use by 20 percent.

Designed by Centerbrook Architects & Planners, the nearly 104,000-square-foot building exceeded expectations with its sustainable features. Originally targeted for LEED® Silver, the Academic Science & Laboratory Building scored 63 points on the LEED® scale to earn BD+C (Building Design + Construction) Gold.  The $49 million project was created entirely through state bonding, and predominantly features interactive laboratory spaces, with only two traditional lecture halls.

In Storrs, UConn’s new Engineering and Science Building is now 75 percent complete, and will be operational this fall.  It is expected to provide room for some of the university’s fastest growing research fields – systems genomics, biomedical sciences, robotics, cyber-physical systems (think drones) and virtual reality technology.

The five-story building will see researchers will move in to the new space this summer, beginning in July. It will be the first structure on the Storrs campus to utilize an “open lab” concept for research. The shared research space and open floor plan is intended to make it easier for scientists from different disciplines to collaborate, fostering innovation, according to UConn Today. The new structure will also give scientists access to a high-speed broadband network can process large amounts of data quickly – a necessity in many research fields today.

The building’s first floor is to include a Robotics and Controls Lab, Computational design Lab, Adaptive systems, Intelligence, and Mechatronics Lab and Manufacturing Systems Laboratory.  The second and third floors will feature the Institute for Systems Genomics, Center for Genome Innovation, Computational Biology Core and Microbial Analysis.  The top two floors will include labs focusing on Cellular Mechanics, Neuroengineering and Pain research, Interdisciplinary Mechanics, Membrane Separations, Advanced Solar Cells and Computational Atmospheric Chemistry.

Southern's Academic Science and Laboratory Building features Connecticut’s only center for nanotechnology and training labs for high performance computing, astronomy, cancer research, and molecular biology. It is also home to the Werth Center for Coastal and Marine Studies. Stressing the connection between education and employment, Southern notes that the Greater New Haven area is home to the second-largest cluster of biotechnology companies in New England.

https://youtu.be/0GLnUUlsQ7g

https://youtu.be/kSkgezEqcJs

Insurance Department Recovers $7.5 Million for Policyholders, Taxpayers in 2016; Highest Total in 4 Years

Connecticut’s Insurance Department recovered $7.5 million for policyholders and taxpayers in 2016, helping individuals, families and employers with their claims and complaints.  That is the highest amount in four years and an increase from the $6 million that the department saved taxpayers and policyholders the previous year. “Connecticut consumers turn to us every year to help them with claims and coverage issues or to just answer questions about their insurance,” said Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade. “Our intervention in 2016 helped thousands of policyholders get much-needed answers, resolution and the benefits to which they are entitled.”

Consumer recoveries and industry fines totaled approximately $6.3 million in 2014, $7.3 million in 2013 and approximately $8.7 million for policyholders and state taxpayers in 2012, the high water mark in recent years.

Commissioner Wade said among the many cases the Department worked on during 2016 was a dispute that involved nearly $170,000 in hospital bills for a victim of a car accident. The patient had health care coverage under two plans – through his employer and as a dependent on his parent’s health insurance. When a dispute arose over which plan was the primary payer, the Department stepped in and determined it was the employer’s plan, which then covered the claims.  Another case involved a motorist whose car was totaled in an accident. When motorist’s insurer initially denied her claim, the Department required that the insurer review the case further. The insurer subsequently paid 100 percent of the motorist’s claims.

The Department’s Consumer Affairs Unit (CAU) fielded more than 5,800 complaints and inquiries and helped policyholders recoup nearly $6 million from January 1 to December 31, 2016, according to officials. Also in 2016, the Department’s Market Conduct division levied approximately $1.6 million in fines against carriers and returned that money to the state’s General Fund. The fines resulted from a variety of violations and settlements ranging from untimely claim payments to improper licensing, the department said.

The majority of the funds recovered for policyholders stemmed from complaints over health, accident, homeowners and life and annuities policies. The  breakdown of funds recovered in 2016:

• Accident, Health - $3.63 million
• Auto - $432,000
• General Liability - $33,710
• Homeowners and Commercial Property - $874,250
• Life, Annuities - $820,000
• Miscellaneous - $160,000

The department announced this month that licensing renewal notices for casualty adjusters and motor vehicle property damage appraisers will now be handled online, with an anticipated savings of nearly $40,000 in processing and mailing costs.The renewals also are now processed online through the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR). The licenses expire on June 30, 2017 and are good for two years. The casualty adjuster renewals are expect to generate approximately $6 million for the General Fund.

“The Department is now emailing renewal notices to the 73,000 casualty adjusters and motor vehicle property damage appraisers in Connecticut improving efficiency by saving time and shedding thousands of dollars in mailing and postage costs,” Wade said.

The Department calculates its consumer recoveries based on what the policyholder received as a result of the Department’s intervention. The inquiries and complaints also help the Department identify industry trends that may adversely affect consumers and trigger investigation by the Market Conduct division.  Complaint data also help determine topics for consumer education and serve as tools to help the Department monitor the industry.  The Market Conduct enforcement actions are posted on the Department’s Web site at www.ct.gov/cid

Responding to Hunger with Capacity Building; Coalition Initiative Renewed

The University of Saint Joseph (USJ)  and Urban Alliance received a $30,000 grant from the Farmington Bank Community Foundation to support More than Food, a framework that helps food pantries with more capacity-building resources in addition to short-term food supplies to help address the root causes of hunger.  More than Food, developed by USJ, Urban Alliance and Foodshare, was initially launched with funding from the Farmington Bank Community Foundation in 2014. This latest grant supports the program over the next two years. “More than Food focuses on promoting healthy food in pantries and helping people access other resources to find a job. We’re proud to support a partnership that is trying to find a solution to the hunger problem,” said Chris Traczyk, executive director of the Farmington Bank Community Foundation.  “It’s a comprehensive, collective-impact project.”  Dr. Katie Martin, assistant professor and director of the Public Health Program at USJ, and her research team developed a nutrition stoplight system called Supporting Wellness at Pantries, or “SWAP”, which helps food pantry clients choose healthier foods.

USJ is collaborating with the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport to pilot the SWAP system in six food pantries in CT, which together serve over 5,000 people on average every month. Under the More than Food framework, the grant from the Farmington Bank Community Foundation will help expand this work to offer trainings and implement and evaluate the SWAP system in additional food pantries.

As part of the More than Food framework, Urban Alliance has developed various training series and toolkits to equip food pantry staff and volunteers to offer case management services and resource centers that help connect clients to necessary community programs through its Beyond the Basics initiative. Also, Urban Alliance is developing a training program to help pantries create a welcoming environment that fosters the dignity and respect of each person served.

A website, www.ittakesmorethanfood.org , has been developed to share information about the More than Food framework and provide practical guidance and tools to food pantries to help them offer healthy foods with choice, connect clients to needed services, and create a welcoming culture. The recent grant award will help refine, disseminate, and evaluate materials that will be shared through the website.

The website points to the mission ahead: "When the 'emergency' of hunger has lasted over three decades, and with strong evidence that food insecurity is associated with chronic health problems, it is time to rethink the way we provide food assistance and time to examine the effectiveness of food pantries. Through our work, we are changing the conversation about hunger away from emergency food to a person-centered and strength-based approach to help people set and achieve goals in their life."

“We are very grateful for the continuing support of the Farmington Bank Community Foundation, as well as the collaborative work of our partner organizations in making More than Food a holistic way to address hunger in our area,” said USJ's Martin. Currently there are multiple food pantries in Connecticut, Texas and Rhode Island that are implementing the More than Food framework to address the root causes of hunger.

Number 9: CT Among Nation's Leaders in Innovation

Connecticut is the nations 9th most innovative state, according to a new analysis by the financial website WalletHub.  The state also placed sixth in research & development spending per capita and ninth in venture-capital funding per capita, the review of the 50 states found. Overall, the top 10 most innovative states included District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Utah, Connecticut and New Hampshire.  New Jersey ranked #12 and New York was #16.  At the other end of the spectrum, the least innovative states were Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia.

In individual categories, Connecticut placed:

• 13^th – Share of STEM Professionals
• 14^th – Share of Science & Engineering Graduates Aged 25+
• 15^th – Projected STEM-Job Demand by 2020
• 15^th – Avg. Internet Speed
• 24^th – Share of Technology Companies
• 27^th – Eighth-Grade Math & Science Performance

WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions, “Human Capital” and “Innovation Environment,” evaluating those dimensions using 18 relevant metrics.

The Norwalk Hour is reporting that Connecticut Public Television is moving forward with its plan to create an innovation and tech center along Wall Street in the heart of Norwalk. The project would require bonding from the state, with Connecticut Public Broadcasting borrowing another $5 million to $7 million, Hearst Connecticut Media learned last October.

The Connecticut Technology Council's annual Women of Innovation event takes place next week, on March 29.  The Women of Innovation event seeks to create :"a growing network of women in the “trenches” of STEM." Finalists are the scientists, researchers, academics, manufacturers, student leaders, drafters, entrepreneurs, and technicians "who create tomorrow’s advancements through their tireless efforts today," the organization said.  The awards will recognize Academic Innovation and Leadership at the High School and College level, Community Innovation and Leadership, Entrepreneurial Innovation and Leadership and Research and Innovation Leadership, as well as innovation and leadership at small and large businesses.

Data used to create the ranking were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Science Foundation, National Center for Education Statistics, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Tax Foundation, Consumer Technology Association, Akamai Technologies, U.S. Cluster Mapping Project and National Venture Capital Association.

Achieve Hartford Aims to Push for Progress in Hartford Schools, From Top Down and Bottom Up

In the aftermath of Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s State of the City address and a comprehensive three-part investigative series published by the Hartford Courant examining the city’s decades-long response to the Sheff decision on integration and quality education, Achieve Hartford! is preparing for its second annual fundraising event and intensifying efforts to encourage sustainable education progress in the city. “Compare the mayor’s role in addressing the fiscal crisis, promoting regionalization, union renegotiations, the fight against blight, or key quality of life issues like resolving a flawed 311 system,” the organization said this month. “In each of these areas as well as several others, Mayor Bronin and his leadership team came together publicly and with a clear mandate directed from the top across departments to solve problems, making the combined whole greater than the individual roles and parts.  Now is a time where city leaders are called to step up as education leaders.”

In promoting their second annual “Inspire Hartford” event slated for May 11, organizers are urging attendees to “see innovation in action” and hear “uplifting stories of success.” They add: “learn how innovative ideas and new technology are training the next generation of bright dreamers and big thinkers. Get educated—and be inspired.”

The keynote speaker will be Charles Best, who leads DonorsChoose.org, the pioneering crowdfunding nonprofit where anyone can help a classroom in need. At DonorsChoose.org, public school teachers create classroom project requests and donors can choose the projects they want to support. Best launched the platform in 2000 out of a Bronx public high school where he taught history. Today, more than two thirds of U.S. public schools have at least one teacher who has created a project request on DonorsChoose.org, and 1.8 million people have donated $360 million to classroom projects reaching 16 million students.

Achieve Hartford!, which was formed in 2008, is an independent nonprofit organization founded by business and community leaders “with the belief that strong schools lead to a strong city,” noting that  “Mayors, Boards of Education and Superintendents change over time.”

“We are doing everything we can to lay out a blueprint for systemic change in Hartford that can help guide collective efforts to improve schools, and we look forward to working with the mayor, the next superintendent, and so many others critical to putting education reform in Hartford back on track,” the organization said earlier this month, while noting that Bronin indicated “strengthening our neighborhood schools must be the single most important priority for our new Superintendent, and I pledge to be a full partner.”

Last week, the search for a new Superintendent for the city was narrowed to two candidates: Acting Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez and Capital Region Education Council (CREC) Assistant Superintendent for Operations Tim Sullivan.

Achieve Hartford warned that “If Hartford leaders, stakeholders, and families put the responsibility for fixing Hartford schools solely on the new superintendent, we should not expect either finalist to be successful.  The responsibility must be shared amongst the Board of Education, City Hall, the corporate community, philanthropy, nonprofit partners, and even our robust institutions of higher education.”

The organizations stresses that it works “toward improving education in our city by innovating ways to address some of our toughest issues, activating the community to take ownership of problem solving, and holding our leaders and educators accountable for advancing student achievement.”

Summarizing recent activities, the organization’s website says succinctly, “there is a lot of conversation but, ultimately, not much action.”

“Developing great schools require not only that the school system operate with excellence, but also our entire community,” the organization’s website points out. “It takes a village to educate a child, and it is our job to help stakeholders play their unique set of roles for school improvement now, and long into the future.”

The May 11 fundraising event will take place at the Hartford Hilton.

Local College Students Selected by US State Department for Intensive Foreign Language Training

Four University of Bridgeport students have been awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships, among the most competitive in the field, to spend the summer abroad at intensive language programs. The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program is part of a U.S. government effort to dramatically expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages deemed to be of particular importance. They include but are not limited to: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Chinese, Persian, Russian, and Urdu.

Students Ana Rena, Justin Sabo and Fernando Gonzalez have been accepted into the Arabic language study program at a site still yet to be determined in the Middle East.  According to the State Department’s website, Arabic is taught in Amman, Jordan; Meknes, Morocco; Tanfier, Morocco; and Ibri, Oman.

UB student Sung Soon Gavel won a CLS to study Korean at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea.  The CLS Korean Program in Gwangju, Korea provides students opportunities to learn Korean both inside the classroom and in an immersive cultural setting during an intensive 8-week language program set in Korea’s sixth-largest city located just south of Seoul. Students receive a minimum of 20 hours per week of classroom instruction where they learn the four major skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in Korean.

CLS Program institutes at 24 locations around the world cover approximately one academic year of university-level language coursework during an eight- to ten-week program and are designed to meet the needs of students from a variety of language levels and backgrounds.

The scholarships are highly competitive; just 10 percent of students who apply to the program are awarded one. But since 2011, eight University of Bridgeport students, including the four 2017 winners, have won them.

“As an application evaluator for the Critical Language Scholarships, I can confirm that the pool of applicants to the program include some of the nation’s brightest students at leading universities across the country. So having one CLS winner, or even having students make it to the final rounds, would be worthy of celebration. The fact that four were granted awards is a phenomenal testament to our students’ hard work.  They make us very proud,” said Brandon LaFavor, director of UB Education Abroad Resource Center.

Formal classroom language instruction is provided for a minimum of 20 hours per week. Extracurricular activities are designed to supplement the formal curriculum, including regular one-on-one meetings with native speaker language partners for conversational practice, as well as cultural activities and excursions designed to expand students’ understanding of the history, politics, culture and daily life of their host country.

In past years, students from institutions including University of Connecticut, Connecticut College, Trinity College, Wesleyan University, Quinnipiac University and Central Connecticut State University have also been selected to participate.  Most recently, a UConn student was selected to learn Hindi in India in 2016, and two Wesleyan students were selected last year to learn Russian and Hindi.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program is a program of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. CLS is administered by American Councils for International Education.

This year’s group of Critical Language Scholars from UB are all enrolled at the College of Public and International Affairs (CPIA) at the University. The school’s six undergraduate and four graduate programs groom students in fields related to diplomacy, including international security and global development. CPIA alumni have gone on to work for the FBI, the Department of State, Defense Department, United Nations, Council of Europe, as well as global NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) and private industry.

https://youtu.be/WUhZlih7hls

CT Has Nation’s Highest Average Rate of Student Debt, Topping $35,000 Per Borrower

In 2017, more than 44 million Americans are working to repay student debt.  Nowhere in the nation is the challenge and burden of student debt more acute than in Connecticut, which has the highest student-debt-per-borrower average in the United States. At $35,947, Connecticut’s average student loan debt outpaced the nation, where, on average, borrowers are working to repay more than $28,000 after graduation.  That’s according to student loan and refinancing marketplace website LendEDU.com’s recently released study and analysis.  LendEDU has pointed out that 59 percent of college graduates in the state have student loan debt. 

In addition to having the highest student-debt-per-borrower average, according to LendEDU’s analysis, Connecticut has the:

• 12th highest percentage of graduates with debt (68%)
• 29th highest default rate (5.66%)
• 31st highest college enrollment (133,999)

Student loan debt is the second highest form of debt in the U.S., second only to mortgages, according to LendEDU.  In addition, nationwide:

• Over 40% of borrowers have delayed starting a family because of their debt
• Over 60% of borrowers have delayed buying a car because of their debt
• Over 70% of borrowers have delayed saving for retirement because of their debt
• Around 75% of borrowers have delayed buying a home because of their debt

In terms of average student debt, among the states with the highest levels, after Connecticut, are New Hampshire (#49), Pennsylvania (#48), Rhode Island (#47), Delaware (#46),  Massachusetts (#45), New Jersey (#44), Minnesota (#43), Iowa (#42), South Carolina (#41), and New York (#40).

At $42,912, the average student debt per borrower in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District, is not only higher than the state average, but is the highest among Connecticut’s five congressional districts.

In the 1^st Congressional District (Rep. John B. Larson) it’s $32,003; in the 2nd (Rep. Joe Courtney), $28,900 the 3^rd (Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro), $38,255; and the 5^th District (Rep. Elizabeth Esty), $20,246.

The portion of graduates with student debt in 4^th District is 70% — tying with the 3rd District for second highest in the state. At 84 percent, the 5th Congressional District has the highest portion of graduates with debt in the state, while the 1st District has the lowest, at 52 percent.

While the student loan default rate in U.S. Rep. Jim Himes’s district (4.99%) is lower than the state average, it is the second highest in the state. The 5th District has the highest student loan default rate, at 11.84 percent, while the 3rd District has the lowest, at 3.73 percent.

The largest college going population is in the New Haven-centered 3^rd Congressional district, with enrollment of 46,440 students, according to the website.  The 4th Congressional District has a total college enrollment of 21,537, just behind the 3rd District (46,440) and 5th District (22,451). The 2nd Congressional District has the smallest enrollment total in the state, at 11,605.

Among the state’s public colleges, the average student debt ranged from UConn’s $25,000 to Central Connecticut State University’s $27,920.  Among all the state’s colleges and universities, among those with the highest average debt levels are Quinnipiac University, Sacred Heart University, and University of New Haven, all in the top 10 nationally with average student debt exceeding $40,000.

Higher Ed Panel on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Seeks to Map Statewide Plan

The charge of the state's Higher Education Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative is to strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship within Connecticut’s public and private higher education institutions while fostering collaboration and providing economic value to Connecticut. The Higher Education Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group, in accordance with Public Act 16-3, met in December, and again in mid-February, and aims to complete its work in May to develop a plan to support innovation and entrepreneurship.  Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College president and professor of neuroscience, and Mark E. Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system (CSCU), were selected in December to co-chair the working group that includes public and independent institutions of higher education from throughout the state.

The group, which is staffed by CTNext, will send its strategic roadmap to CTNext’s board of directors for approval. Once the plan is approved, the board will elect an advisory committee made up of public and private school officials and student representatives. This new committee will advise the CTNext board of directors as it deploys $2 million each year for the next five years to projects and initiatives that fit the priorities identified in the strategic road map, according to the CTNext website.

The working group is tasked with developing a master plan for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship at in-state public and independent colleges and universities. The master plan will:

1. address opportunities and risks to innovation and entrepreneurship resulting from existing and emergent conditions affecting entrepreneurial programs and initiatives at institutions of higher education;
2. assess the scope and scale of existing entrepreneurial programs and initiatives at such institutions in the context of best practices at state and national institutions of higher education that are leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship;
3. recommend initiatives that facilitate collaboration and cooperation among institutions of higher education on projects that address and strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship at such institutions;
4. provide for the establishment of a state-wide intercollegiate business plan competition; and
5. identify funding priorities for higher education entrepreneurship grants-in-aid pursuant for projects that expand and enhance entrepreneurial programs and initiatives or projects involving partnerships among institutions of higher education.

“As co-chair, I look forward to working closely with colleagues from across Connecticut,” said Berger-Sweeney. “Our strategic planning to support entrepreneurship and innovation is critical to the economic vitality and future of the state.”

“I’m excited to work with all our presidents, both public and private, to find ways to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship at our institutions,” said CSCU President Ojakian. “Our mission is help our students turn their creative ideas into businesses that will grow and thrive in Connecticut.”

During the working group’s December meeting, which ran just over an hour, participants from 27 colleges and universities, including the presidents of most of the institutions, discussed the challenges and opportunities to advance innovation and entrepreneurship on their campuses and in the state.

According to the meeting minutes, there was discussion on how best to allocate $10 million ($2 million/year for 5 years), centered on determining a strategy to leverage the funds.  Participants suggested a focus on partnerships, and urged efforts to “think from the beginning about how to connect people (broadly) to the jobs that will be created,” along with a “commitment to creating a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.”  Education leaders also noted that Connecticut “is relatively more highly regulated than other states in public education,” which could make the effort “more difficult.”

The college and university leaders also listed an array of assets that exist in Connecticut which could spur their efforts.  Among those cited were:

• Strong medical/bio-science institutions
• Long standing leader in advanced manufacturing
• Lower cost of real estate relative to Cambridge and Silicon Valley
• Leadership in aerospace
• International linkages/partnerships
• Prime location between NYC and Boston

Also mentioned was the fact that Connecticut has “a lot of empty buildings” in “legacy cities ripe for redevelopment.”  Connecticut’s status as a financial capital, and the potential collective political force of higher education leadership were also noted as potential pluses.

Late last year, CTNext issued an RFP for “qualified independent higher education institutions, policy institutes, or research organizations to conduct certain analyses of innovation and entrepreneurship in the state.”  The assignment proposed included: “a baseline assessment of the state’s innovation and entrepreneurship based on certain program measures,” including:

1. the increase or decrease in the state’s (a) start-up businesses, including growth stage start-ups; (b) software developers; and (c) serial entrepreneurs (i.e. those having brought at least one start-up business to venture capital funding by an institutional investor);
2.  job growth within growth-stage businesses;
3. the amount of private venture capital invested in start-up and growth-stage businesses;
4. employee turnover at start-up and growth-stage businesses;
5. the amount of entrepreneurship and innovation research funded by higher education institutions in the state;
6.  the rate at which businesses enter and leave the state; and
7. the degree to which the state’s (a) hiring rate exceeds its job creation rate and (b) employment separation rate exceeds its job loss rate.

CTNext is Connecticut’s innovation ecosystem designed to build a more robust community of entrepreneurs and to accelerate early-stage growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development, and capital to foster innovation and create jobs in Connecticut.  CTNext is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut Innovations.

Photos:  Trinity College President  Joanne Berger-Sweeney, CSCU President Mark Ojakian; February meeting of working group.