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Training and Education Planning System (TEPS)
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About TEPS
Training & Education Planning System
Frequently Asked QuestionsFrequently Asked Questions
What is the Training and Education Planning System (TEPS)?
TEPS3.0 is a tool that is intended to assist in the analysis and discussion of supply and demand issues relevant to Connecticut’s workforce, and to help the user make informed decisions when planning education and training programs. It will help to identify skill imbalances (that is, skill shortages or surpluses) in the labor market, and thereby help to guide the training investments of individuals and program planners. By helping to direct the development and expansion of structured training programs to address skill shortages, the TEPS3.0 also serves as an economic development tool by which workforce development organizations such as One-Stop Centers address the critical labor needs of industries and firms.
Who is this tool intended for?
TEPS3.0 is intended primarily for educational administrators and workforce planners who are considering whether or not to develop a new program, expand or contract an existing one, or drop an existing program entirely, but can also be used by counselors who are working with students or clients who are trying to decide what career to go into. It is designed to help planners and administrators identify employment opportunities and plan educational and training programs.
What is supply/demand analysis and why is it useful?
Supply/demand analysis is helpful for employers and human resource managers as they look at the education levels of their potential applicant pools. It can show program planners where the need for trained workers lies. Supply/demand data are important for career counselors and One-Stop staff, who can recommend that individuals enroll in training programs that will result in the skills demanded by employers. Workforce planners (e.g., workforce board staff, chambers of commerce, and governor's office staff) can use supply/demand data to help integrate workforce development and economic development, by identifying the types of training individuals are receiving and by coordinating this training with current and future economic development plans. In theory, if one counted all available jobs in a given occupation and compared that number to all the people that had the necessary skills to do that job, one could determine if skills shortages or surpluses exist. All that data is rarely available, but the information in TEPS can give an estimate of which occupations are showing shortages or surpluses. This should only be the starting point of an in-depth discussion of the situation.
What is the list of comments and cautions? Why is it included? [ more ]
The correlation between educational programs and occupations is often fuzzy: there may be multiple educational paths leading to a single occupation, and a single program may lead to a variety of different occupations. In addition, there are many programs, particularly at the bachelor’s degree level, which do not map well to specific occupations. Many of these are steppingstones to even more advanced education. These general comments and caveats are included to make users aware of some of the things that make supply/demand analysis such a complicated task. Comparing the number of annual job openings with the number of program graduates usually does not by itself provide a sufficient assessment of occupational shortages and surpluses. This is only one piece of the puzzle, but it can start the process of investigating skill gaps.
Glossary of TermsGlossary of Terms
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP)
CIP stands for Classification of Instructional Programs, and are the codes assigned to postsecondary educational programs by the U.S. Department of Education. The latest version of these codes is referred to CIP 2010, although many are still using CIP 2000.
Demand
The demand for workers in the economy stems from employers' need for labor to produce goods and services. As this need fluctuates, so does the amount of labor demanded. Demand is estimated through occupational estimates of current employment and projections for future job openings due to growth and replacement needs. TEPS uses the number of annual job openings for each of the occupations assigned to the cluster as an estimate of demand.
Education Level
The minimum general education or training required for an individual to be employed in an occupation.

First Professional Degree
Doctoral Degree
Master’s Degree
Work Experience Plus Bachelor’s or Higher Degree
Bachelor’s Degree
Associate Degree
Postsecondary Vocational Training
Work Experience In a Related Occupation
Long-Term On-the-Job Training
Moderate-Term On-the-Job Training
Short-Term On-the-Job Training
Full Employment
The state of the economy in which all eligible people who want to work can find employment at prevailing wage rates. However, it does not imply 100 percent employment because allowances must be made for frictional unemployment and seasonal factors. It is a rate of employment defined by government economists to take into account the percentage of unemployed who would not be employed regardless of the nation's economy.
Occupation
The name or title of a job that identifies a person's principal business or work activity. Occupations are classified using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) taxonomy, a standard classification system used in social and economic statistical reporting programs, such as the Census or U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) programs. The SOC is the basic occupational coding taxonomy used by all federal statistical agencies, and affiliated state statistical agencies, for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating occupational data. All workers are classified into one of over 820 occupations according to their occupational definition.
Program
The name or title of an instructional program. Programs are classified using the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) taxonomy, which was developed to support the accurate tracking, assessment, and reporting of fields of study and program completions activity. The CIP is used to classify both secondary- and postsecondary-level programs. It was developed by the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education. The CIP taxonomy is the accepted federal government statistical classification standard for instructional programs and is used in a variety of education information surveys and databases.
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
SOC refers to Standard Occupational Classification and provides a coding structure for all occupations that are employed within American industry. The U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for developing these SOC codes and is currently updating them.
Supply
The supply of labor is the total of all those who are working (that is, the employed workforce), the unemployed population actively seeking work, and new entrants into the labor market (including training program completers), plus the net occupational and geographic transfers, and returning military veterans.The supply of labor is the total of all those who are working (that is, the employed workforce), the unemployed population actively seeking work, and new entrants into the labor market (including training program completers), plus the net occupational and geographic transfers, and returning military veterans.
Supply/Demand Report
The supply of labor is the total of all those who are working (that is, the employed workforce), the unemployed population actively seeking work, and new entrants into the labor market (including training program completers), plus the net occupational and geographic transfers, and returning military veterans.

TEPS uses the number of people who have completed training preparing for the occupations in the cluster as an estimate of supply. The supply data includes only graduates of formal training programs from higher education institutions, private occupational schools and technical high schools.

For the Supply/Demand Report, the supply data is divided into five levels:
  • Sec – Secondary-level programs at technical high schools
  • Post/Cert – Adult-level programs at technical high schools, programs at private occupational schools and hospital schools, certificate-level programs at colleges and universities
  • Assoc – Associate degrees
  • Bach – Bachelor’s degrees
  • Grad – Postgraduate certificates, master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, first professional degrees

There are other sources of training for many occupations, such as apprenticeships and on-the-job training, for which we do not have good estimates of training completers.

Comments and CaveatsComments and Caveats
Things To Consider When Assessing Occupational Supply.

Analysis of supply and demand data involves many factors. Here are some of the things to consider as you review the supply/demand cluster reports:

  • There may be multiple educational paths leading to a single occupation, and a single program may lead to a variety of different occupations. Results from one query may be irrelevant to the crosswalk relationship that it should be considered while analyzing the program-occupation match using the crosswalk.

  • Comparing the number of annual job openings with the number of program graduates usually does not by itself provide a sufficient assessment of occupational shortages and surpluses.

  • Reports may include several levels of related occupations that require different amounts of education and training. For example, an occupation group may include some combination of therapists (bachelor’s or above), technologists (associate degree), technicians (certificate), assistants (certificate or OJT), or aides (OJT). Not all programs will match with all occupations in that group, but they are related with some overlap.

  • Care needs to be taken to match the right level of graduates to openings. For example, in Pharmacy – annual job openings match best with the Pharm.D graduates and MS/PhD graduates in Pharmaceutics. For the pre-pharmacy graduates, most go on in Pharmacy, but the rest may go into other sciences such as biology or chemistry.

  • Many students getting advanced degrees are already employed in that field.

  • Students from other states may return to their home states, especially at the graduate level. Similarly, foreign students often go back to their home country.

  • Some programs may not be offered in Connecticut. Students who desire to major in these programs will have to go out of state and will not be counted in Connecticut supply data.
  • Supply data includes only graduates of formal training programs. There are other sources of training for many of the occupations, such as apprenticeships and on-the-job training. Graduates of training programs that do not report to a central collection point, in general are also not included.

  • Those who already have a bachelor’s degree may take programs at the certificate level in order to learn new or advanced skills.

  • Those with undergraduate degrees in various sciences may go on to medical or dental school rather than continue in biology, chemistry or other sciences.

  • For some occupations, a graduate degree is generally needed for employment. Students receiving degrees at lower levels, such as a bachelor’s degree, may go into other occupations instead of continuing their education in their current field.
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