Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The work being done in the Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee is instrumental to recent high school graduates, current college students, Minnesotans looking to advance their career or gain a new skillset, as well as to families who often struggle to pay for the excessive and rising costs of tuition.
Serving on this committee, we have been hearing from the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) about their budget requests for the next two years and will continue to do so in upcoming hearings. As I hear the testimony, I do have a concern that not enough is being done with existing funds to stop rising tuition costs which can put students into serious debt for decades or prevent some young Minnesotans from being able to attain the dream of a college degree.
The Higher Ed Committee recently heard from Office of Higher Education Director Larry Pogemiller regarding Governor Dayton's budget request for higher ed. According to Director Pogemiller, the Dayton Administration's budget request includes an allocation of dollars specifically for undocumented immigrants who, because of their status, do not currently qualify for federal Pell grants. Governor Dayton is asking the legislature to make up for this by using state dollars.
At the same time, there is no additional money in the Dayton budget for the students currently enrolled in the MnSCU system because of ongoing fights between the MnSCU administration and its faculty union. Because of this, the 410,000 students currently taking courses at 2 and 4 year state colleges in Minnesota could see their tuition go up as a result.
Related to the U of M, the governor has proposed freezing tuition for their students with half of the costs being paid by state taxpayers, hoping the other half of costs will be absorbed by the schools. When student representatives from the U of M came to committee to testify in favor of this tuition freeze, I asked them if a tuition reduction would be better, and they agreed.
I think we need to do better than a freeze as tuition costs are too high and need to be lowered. I have consistently communicated this message to everyone at the U that I have been in contact with including current Regents and Regent candidates, the CEO, and President Eric Kaler.
There are ways to do this provided the U of M digs through their budgets to find and eliminate excessive spending, especially at the administrative level, while also looking at the amount that non-residents pay for tuition which is a smaller increase than most Big 10 universities. For policymakers and college administrators, the question should not be can we demand more from taxpayers to freeze tuition, but how can we lower tuition from within.
Furthermore, one example of waste comes in the form of redundant, expensive studies being done by research universities like the U of M. A recent opinion editorial in the Star Tribune by a University of Minnesota professor criticized a bill I authored to prevent Minnesota colleges from reproducing expensive studies on mileage-based user taxes which have already been done both in Minnesota and across the country.
You can read my response in the Star Tribune here to see why the legislation is important.
Finally, in the Higher Education Committee, we are tasked with choosing Regent nominees for the University of Minnesota. Here is who the committee has chosen to send forward for a general vote on the House and Senate floor:
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District One: Patricia Simmons and Randy Simonson
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District Three: Paula Prahl and Michael Belzer
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District Four: Richard Beeson
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District Six: Michael Hsu
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District Seven: Tom Anderson
If you have any comments on the state of higher education in Minnesota, I welcome you to contact my office. I am here to serve you!
Many thanks go out to you for the honor of representing Chisago County in the Minnesota House. It’s a privilege to be your state representative.
Sincerely,
Bob