Higher Education
Higher education bills in limbo
State grant eligibility
Students attending a private, for-profit institution may not receive a dime from the state grant program, under a bill
heard April 2 by the House Higher Education Finance Committee, but was not included in the committee omnibus bill.
Examples of such institutions are Duluth Business University, National American University at the Mall of America,
and Rasmussen College in Eagan, Mankato, Minnetonka, and St. Cloud.
Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall), the House sponsor, said that programs offered by many private, for-profit
institutions meet many needs for the people of the state, but "this deals with the prioritization of dollars. I want
to bring this forward so we can think about where we want to go with state grant dollars."
Philosophically, Seifert said, the committee
needs to decide if tax dollars should be put into for-profit institutions and
how to measure what the state gets back for the dollars it puts in.
A Senate companion, sponsored by Sen. Sharon Marko (DFL-Cottage Grove), awaits committee action.
HF862/SF529
Studying abroad
A passport would be necessary for some college students if a plan heard March 31 by the House Higher Education
Finance Committee becomes law. The bill was not included in the committee omnibus bill.
The bill would make it mandatory for students at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) institutions who
are preparing to teach a foreign language in the K-12 system to study abroad for one year. The bill requests that the
University of Minnesota also adopt the policy.
According to Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth),
the House sponsor, most teachers learn what they know about countries whose
language they are teaching in the classroom. He said they should visit the
country to study its history and be subjected to its culture as well. Jaros said
without a hands-on experience in a country where the language is spoken would be
akin to having surgery performed by a surgeon who only learned from a textbook.
A companion bill, sponsored by Sen. Sandra Pappas (DFL-St. Paul), awaits committee action.
HF188/SF144
State grant allocations
Instead of state grant aid being awarded to students from the Higher Education Services Office (HESO) it would be awarded
by their specific institution, under a bill that to failed to make it into the higher education omnibus bill.
The bill would provide direct appropriations to the University of Minnesota, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
(MnSCU), and the Minnesota Private Colleges Council to distribute state grant awards to their students. In addition, the
services office would also receive money to distribute for private colleges that are not part of the private colleges council.
Currently, the office awards all state grant money.
Rep. Lyndon Carlson (DFL-Crystal), the House sponsor, told the House Higher Education Finance Committee that, under
the proposal, the institutions would be authorized to develop their own guidelines for distributing need-based assistance
for tuition, work-study, and child care aid.
"This builds in more flexibility to meet the
needs of students," he said. "Its tough to tailor a system to where one size
fits all."
In the Senate, where Sen. David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) is the sponsor, the bill was included in that body's omnibus
bill, but was removed by a conference committee.
HF1422/SF1453
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