Since the recession that plagued the previous decade, Arizona has struggled to grow one of its biggest contributors to the economy: the construction industry.

What began as interview with Grand Canyon University President Brian Mueller about GCU’s tuition fee freeze, now on its 10th consecutive year, quickly spawned into a free-wheeling discussion about how Americans are rethinking the value of a college degree.

A ranch that has largely sat dormant since being bought by Arizona nearly a decade ago is being turned into a state park that will include campsites and recreational opportunities along the scenic Verde River.

Personal income grew 3 percent last year in Arizona, mirroring a national increase of 3.7 percent that year as the nation continued to rebound from the recession, new government data shows.

Corporate tax cuts enacted during the Great Recession amid promises they would stimulate business growth are actually going to leave the state with $350 million less by the time they’re fully implemented.

As Arizona fully emerges from what has been a long and dark economic winter, economists warn of potential headwinds and the possibility of another recession this decade.

The state has finally paid off the last of the money it had to borrow to pay unemployment benefits to workers during the recession.

Arizona sits atop the list of states that have made the deepest cuts to higher education and have enacted the largest tuition increases in the nation since the start of the recession.

Despite efforts by policymakers to diversify the state’s economy, Arizona still rides on the boom and bust of the housing industry. And when this sector is inactive, its silence – and all the troubles that entails – reverberate throughout the state.

Arizona lost 800 private sector jobs last month as the state continues to find its financial footing to finally recover from the recession.