Minnesota House of Representatives
District 12A 651-296-4929 – rep.jay.mcnamar@house.mn
431 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Matt Privratsky – 651-296-6860
May 17, 2013
HOUSE PASSES HIGHER EDUCATION BILL FREEZE TO TUITION, INCREASE LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT OF U of M and MnSCU SPENDING
ST. PAUL, MN – The House of Representatives passed the House Higher Education Conference Committee Report today on a bipartisan vote of 76-56. Included in the bill is funding that will directly benefit students by freezing tuition at both the University of Minnesota (U of M) and the Minnesota State Colleges and University system (MnSCU). The bill also dramatically increases funding for the State Grant Program that provides education funding for low income students. State Representative Gene Pelowski (DFL – Winona), Chair of the Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee, said his bill puts a long overdue focus on holding down tuition and reducing debt for students.
“For the first time in almost a decade, we get to reinvest in higher education,” said Rep. Pelowski. “It’s almost all going to students, either in the form of grants or lower tuition.”
Last year, the legislature made record cuts to higher education in the state budget. Tuition has nearly doubled at state colleges and universities over the past decade. The bill would increase funding for higher education by $250 million, using half of those resources to freeze in-state resident tuition over the next two years. There will also be $35 million allocated to the MnDrive research program at the University of Minnesota and over $75 million allocated to the Office of Higher Education to increase grants for access, choice, and debt reduction.
“This is a big step in the right direction,” said Rep. Jay McNamar (DFL – Elbow Lake). “We can’t just expect our children and grandchildren to keep paying more and more for their college education. At a certain point, we have to make things more affordable. This bill is a great start and we’ll work even harder to keep that trend going next session.”
The Higher Education bill also includes new reforms to expand the oversight function of the legislature. They are designed to better hold the U of M and MnSCU accountable for budgeting practices that have come under fire for high administrative costs and excessive compensation for top administrators.
Rep. Pelowski’s committee held fourteen hearings on the oversight needed. His committee looked at the dramatic increase in student tuition, fees, and debt over the past six years, examined student-to-faculty ratios, and scrutinized administrative costs and trends over the past decade. The product of that work can be seen in new reforms that were drafted in consultation with the Office of Legislative Auditor to expand the oversight function of the legislature to better hold the U of M and MnSCU accountable for the money they are spending.
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