According to Kathy Kahn of HV Biz, the Hudson Valley is experiencing a marked increase in college applications for all its educational institutions, and the region’s student population is an interesting mix of high school graduates already determined to be college bound, transfer students from other states, adults who want to improve their career opportunities, and adults who want to create a better resume while they search for a new job. Others are students who had chosen career over college and found jobs sorely lacking, both for the newbies and the experienced workers. The growth, Kahn notes, has helped the economy because most, if not all, of the Hudson Valley region’s schools are upgrading. From millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements at Vassar in Poughkeepsie and SUNY Orange in Middletown, to Dutchess Community College's building of 450 units of student housing in Poughkeepsie aand The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park plans to put up a Hyatt hotel on the north end of its campus. NY Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s report on the economic impact of higher education in the state, prepared in September, reported state higher education institutions employed more than 266,000 people in 2009. The state had the largest private higher education sector in the nation, with 167,450 jobs, more than 40 percent more than second-ranked California. In surveys prepared by the Association of University Technology Managers, New York consistently ranked among the top three states nationwide in leveraging technology to create economic growth.