It will take me forever to find this study, but I'll try. There's a study that looked at training success rates at centers and found the two main factors in success were age (younger is better) and being an IFR rated pilot. CTI degree had no impact on becoming a CPC, and actually past high school, education had no impact at all.
EDIT: Found the study quicker than I thought.
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1050265.pdf
EDIT: First link was wrong, lol
Was the result of this study the reason they changed the Biographical Questionnaire in 2014? The version where the agency was sued for purposely weighing questions such as:
"In the three years prior to applying to this job, the number of formal suggestions I have submitted to my employer(s) was:
A. Not employed (10 points)
B. 0 (8 points)
C. 1 (6 points)
D. 2 (4 points)
E. 3 or more (2 points)"
"My peers would probably describe me as a person who:
A. Never takes chances (1 point)
B. Hardly ever takes chances (2 points)
C. Sometimes takes chances (3 points)
D. Often takes chances (4 points)
E. Very often takes chances (5 points)"
"My previous supervisor would most likely describe the amount of time I needed to complete assignments as:
A. A great deal (5 points)
B. More than average (4 points)
C. Average (3 points)
D. Less than average (2 points)
E. Don't know (1 point)"
"The number of months I was unemployed during the three years immediately before applying to this job is:
A. 0 (6 points)
B. 1 to 2 (10 points)
C. 3 to 4 (0 points)
D. 5 to 6 (8 points)
E. 7 or more (4 points)"
"In the three years immediately before applying to this job, the number of different full or part-time jobs I applied for was:
A. None (0 points)
B. 1 to 2 (4 points)
C. 3 to 4 (3 points)
D. 5 to 6 (5 points)
E. 7 or more (1 point)"
"The number of different high school sports I participated in was:
A. 4 or more (5 points)
B. 3 (4 points)
C. 2 (3 points)
D. 1 (2 points)
E. Didn't play sports (1 point)"
"Of the following, the college subject in which I received my lowest grades was:
A. Science (0 points)
B. Math (0 points)
C. English (0 points)
D. History/Political Science (15 points)
E. Did not attend college (0 points)