Minnesota’s current investments in higher education will play an important role in the future economic success of our state. According the Department of Employment and Economic Development, “the state is continuing to shift towards a skill-based economy. National projections indicate that 70 percent of jobs in Minnesota will require a post-secondary degree by 2018, up from the current 40 percent.”
Governor Dayton’s budget includes $171 million in spending reductions for higher education, or a six percent cut from base funding for FY 2012-13. As a result, the state’s level of investment in higher education would fall to FY 2002-03 funding levels (and that’s in actual dollars, not inflation-adjusted).
The Governor’s budget proposal protects the State Grant program, but cuts other financial aid opportunities.
- There are no reductions to the State Grant program, which provides financial aid for approximately 85,000 low- and moderate-income Minnesota students every year. However, demand for financial aid is projected to exceed the available funding by $35 million in the next biennium. To ensure the available funds are able to stretch further, the Governor recommends that the student share of expenses be increased slightly and that families pay an additional surcharge on their share.
- There is a 33 percent reduction in funding for state-funded work study, which pays 75 percent of wages for qualifying campus and community jobs that allow students to earn money to pay for the costs of higher education. Approximately 2,600 fewer students would have a work study opportunity in FY 2012 as a result of the proposed cut.
- The Governor proposes a five percent reduction to the American Indian Scholarship program, resulting in 32 fewer students being able to access this financial assistance each year.
- There is a five percent reduction in child care assistance grants for low-income students. As a result of this cut, 150 fewer students a year would receive financial assistance to pay for child care, meaning that they would work more hours, incur more student loans or take longer to graduate.
- The Achieve Scholarship program is eliminated. This scholarship program was designed to help high achieving, high-need students access higher education, with an average annual scholarship of $2,568. Approximately 130 students would be impacted.
- The Governor phases out all general fund support for the Minnesota College Savings Program, which helps low-income families save for college expenses. Approximately 2,500 families will no longer receive a state match on their savings.
The Governor proposes a six percent reduction in base funding for the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU).
- There is a $77 million cut to the University of Minnesota, bringing funding below FY 2010-11 levels. Back in 1978, the University was received 43 percent of its budget from state funding, that percentage has fallen to 18 percent. University of Minnesota president Robert Bruininks testified before the House Higher Education committee that to absorb the proposed reductions, the University is likely to continue to freeze wages, reduce employee benefits and shed staff wherever possible to minimize increases in tuition. Bruininks warned that we have benefitted from ”six generations of greatness, and we could lose it in a few bad years.”
- There is a $76 million cut to MnSCU in FY 2012-13, bringing funding down to FY 2003 levels, even though the system is serving nearly 38,000 more students. Years of budget reductions has resulted in state per student spending in the MnSCU system falling from an average of $4,877 per student in 2001 to $3,832 per student in 2011.
-Christina Wessel
