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CT State moves student pay ranges after Connecticut minimum wage rise
Summary
The Finance and Infrastructure Committee was briefed on adjustments to student worker pay ranges after Connecticut raised its minimum wage; system staff estimated an annualized budget impact of about $677,000 and said roughly 233 student positions could be affected, with only eight students currently paid near the new upper range.
Connecticut State Colleges and Universities officials told the Finance and Infrastructure Committee that they have adjusted systemwide student pay ranges after Connecticut's minimum wage rose on Jan. 1.
The change raises the statutory minimum from $15.69 to $16.35 an hour and prompted a realignment of minimums and maximums across three student job classes, officials said. Jennifer Person, assistant vice chancellor for human resources, said the system's new pay ranges are modest and intended to support student employment while allowing each institution discretion within the new ranges.
The adjustment was implemented in CoreCT for employees who were below the new minimum, Person said, and institutions will make other adjustments for students who must be brought to the minimum of their assigned pay range. Person said the system sought Chancellor Chang's approval before presenting the change to the committee.
Why it matters: System staff said the changes are required by state law and will increase the system's annual payroll costs for student employees. The committee heard an estimate of the budgetary effect and sought additional data on how many students might reach the new $20 maximum set for the top of the range.
Committee discussion and estimates
Lloyd (system finance staff) and Person told regents the minimum wage increase of 66 cents per hour required resetting the floor for student wages. Person said the system also raised the top of the pay range by $1 to $20 an hour to give campuses additional hiring flexibility for roles that warrant higher pay.
System staff projected an annualized budgetary increase across the entire system of about $677,000, but they stressed this is an estimate because each institution controls student hiring decisions. Regent questions focused on scale and distribution: one regent asked how many students could reach the $20 maximum; Person said a very small portion of the student workforce might do so and offered to provide a campus-level breakdown.
Additional details provided to the committee
- Projected annualized increase: about $677,000 (systemwide; projection subject to institution-level hiring choices). - Estimated number of affected student positions: about 233 students systemwide (as discussed during the meeting). - New statutory minimum implemented: $16.35 per hour (up from $15.69 per hour). - Top of the revised pay range for highest student job class: $20.00 per hour (system decision to raise upper range by $1). - CoreCT update: system office staff used CoreCT to centrally process hourly-rate changes for students who were below the new statutory minimum. - Follow-up data provided during the meeting: Person later reported CoreCT shows eight students across the system currently paid between $19 and $20 per hour; just over 90% of student employees are paid between $16.35 and $17.00 per hour.
Distinguishing discussion, direction and action
Discussion: Committee members discussed budget impacts, how many students might be affected, and the rationale for raising the top of the range to $20 to provide hiring flexibility.
Direction: Staff agreed to provide a campus-level breakdown of how many students fall into each pay class and how many could potentially be paid closer to the $20 maximum.
Action: No formal committee vote was required on the pay change itself; staff reported the change had been implemented in accordance with state law and system policy.
Ending
Committee members accepted the explanation and asked staff for follow-up data on the campus-level distribution of student positions within the adjusted pay ranges. The committee moved on to its next agenda item after the presentation.
