In the 2025 General Assembly, we will begin a months-long conversation about Connecticut’s future, shaped by the priorities we fund in the next two-year budget. Our focus will be on strengthening our economy and making life more affordable for families across the state. Those efforts will include reimagining how we support college scholarships to retain students and keep them contributing to our state’s economic growth.
Here in Connecticut, we have taken aggressive steps to help young people pursue vital careers in the trades through the tuition-free community college program. For those who want to be electricians, radiology techs, or work in manufacturing, they can begin their working careers unburdened by student loan debt.
Programs like this are essential because skilled labor is critical to our progress. We need carpenters and electricians to tackle our housing challenges. Hospitals can’t function without skilled nurses and other highly-trained staff, and we would be forced to export our nation-leading aerospace and defense sectors if those industries lacked access to skilled machinists.
Connecticut’s debt-free community college program has significantly increased enrollment and provided skilled workers in critical trades. Now, we turn our focus toward our four-year schools. Currently, Connecticut is a prolific exporter of college students. We lose 40% of our young adults to colleges and universities in other states and the impact of this brain drain on our economy and quality of life is significant.
It does not have to be this way. We have an opportunity to change the paradigm by providing direct relief to students of four-year universities and their families. Connecticut’s scholarship program, named after longtime legislator Rep. Roberta Willis, does not receive enough funding to support all eligible students. Just 31% of eligible students received the Roberta Willis Scholarship in fiscal year ‘22.
Put another way, Connecticut effectively told 16,000 eligible students that they were on their own. No wonder so many decide to leave Connecticut for college – and never come back. Connecticut’s investment in need-based aid is among the lowest in the region and in the nation. In fact, forty-three other states spend a greater percentage of state funding for higher education on student aid than CT. The evidence suggests it’s a very good return on investment. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 76% of all students seeking an undergraduate degree in the U.S. stay in-state for college. In Connecticut, the number drops to 61%.
If Connecticut increased funding for its scholarship program by just 0.3% of its overall budget, we could tell all eligible high school seniors that they can count on a scholarship to help them and their family to afford college.
We will also examine the spending practices of administrators in our higher education system to enhance accountability and to guarantee that resources are concentrated where they should be – on our students and their needs.
Thanks to temporary federal funding, we know what happens when we invest more in scholarships: college enrollment increases among students from all backgrounds, transforming their lives and strengthening our economy.
Connecticut families face enough uncertainty next year. Let’s send them a strong message: you can count on our state to invest in your future no matter what career path you follow.
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and Senator Derek Slap
