Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Today I want to discuss one very important issue, higher education and college tuition. Earlier this month, the Higher Education Committee held a comprehensive informational hearing on the University of Minnesota, discussing a number of important topics from the Department of Psychiatry legislative audit to the athletic department to campus safety to fetal tissue research. One issue that we covered—the rising cost of tuition—is of high priority for many families in Chisago County who are currently searching for ways to help their sons and daughters attend college.
Whether compared to other Big 10 schools, the 49 other flagship universities around the country or other high research institutions, the fact remains that the U of M has very high resident tuition rates. Unfortunately, instead of being straightforward with how they are addressing this serious concern for Minnesota families, the U of M used smoke and mirrors in their responses to legitimate questions about their high in-state tuition, incorporating scholarship and grant program tuition reductions into their calculations to make college costs appear better. Using taxpayer funded grants in their calculations may make their tuition costs appear lower on paper, but the simple fact of the matter is that they are still an outlier when it comes to tuition costs and many of their students are facing a significant financial burden.
Additionally, when looking at the rising cost of tuition and the strain that puts of family budgets and young graduates who leave school with a degree and student debt, it's clear the U of M also needs to address its administrative overhead costs. With reports that their administrative costs have expanded over the last decade, I want to be sure that the university is transparent with state leaders, taxpayers and students when it comes to how they spend tuition dollars as well as state appropriations that originate from taxpayers.
Every two years the University of Minnesota returns to the legislature asking for additional funding and budget requests, often refusing to freeze or lower tuition unless those dollars are doled out. I believe the university can do more to reduce its costs and lower in-state tuition for Minnesota students. This can easily happen by increasing non-resident tuition so that both tuition rates are at the mid-point of the Big 10.
As I stated, this is an important issue for many Minnesotans, and I will continue to advocate for lower student tuition at the University of Minnesota.
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Happy Easter everyone.
Sincerely,
Bob