You asked about the employment of the state's public college and university graduates. You want to know if graduates have had difficulties in finding employment in the state.

According to a May 2008 report by the Connecticut departments of Labor and Higher Education, of the 17,726 Connecticut public college graduates in 2006, 68% were employed in the state in the third quarter after graduation. A study of 2004 graduates yielded similar results: of the 14,780 public college graduates in 2004, 10,901 or 68% were employed in the state in the third quarter after graduation.

Employment rates of 2006 graduates varied across the constituent units, from 56% at UConn, 76% at the Connecticut State University System, 78% at the Community College System, and 26% at Charter Oak State College. Similarly, the rate of employed graduates by program of study ranged from a high of 80% for public administration and security and protective services to a low of 43% for interdisciplinary studies. Women made up the majority of employed graduates, with 65% employed in the third quarter after graduation. Nearly 70% of employed graduates were employed by firms with 100 of more employees; 45% worked in firms of 500 or more employees.

Table 1 shows the 2005-06 graduates employed by program of study. The greatest number of employed graduates majored in business management and administration, followed by education and liberal arts and sciences. The data reflects employment in Connecticut only and excludes federal and self-employment.

Table 1: 2005-06 Graduates Employed in Third Quarter

After Graduation By Program of Study

*Not shown to ensure confidentiality of student data

Table 2 shows 2006 employed public college graduates by industry sector. It shows that these graduates were more likely to be working in educational services (23%) than in any other industry sector, followed by health care and social assistance (21%).

Table 2: 2005-06 Graduates Employed in the Third Quarter

After Graduation by Industry Sector

Graduates working in utilities had the highest average quarterly earnings ($21,162), followed by management of companies and enterprises ($15,026). On average, 2006 graduates earned $9,629 per quarter or about $38,516 per year, over 7% higher than 2004 graduates. Table 3 shows the top five industry sectors by average quarterly earnings.

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