American Indian students could attend college at no cost under legislation that has passed both the Minnesota House and Senate, but the two chambers disagree on how to spend the rest of higher education’s share of a historic state budget surplus.
The House passed its omnibus higher-education bill last week, and the Senate did so on Tuesday. In keeping with budget targets DFL leaders announced last month, the bills call for a $650 million, or 18.5 percent, increase in state funding for higher education in the next biennium out of a projected $17.5 billion surplus.
The House bill is heavy on system-level funding, including $75 million for a two-year tuition freeze at Minnesota State’s 26 colleges and seven universities.
The Senate, meanwhile, focuses on targeted grants for disadvantaged students, including a $178 million provision that would cover all tuition and fees for any public two- and four-year college students from families with adjusted gross incomes under $80,000.
“We built a budget … that meets the needs of our most important stakeholders, and those are our students,” said Sen. Omar Fateh, DFL-Minneapolis, higher-education committee chair.
Legislative leaders will have to work out the bills’ differences in a conference committee.
System support
Overall, the Minnesota State system would see a $331 million (21 percent) biennial funding increase in the House bill and $257 million in the Senate’s version.
Likewise, state funding for the University of Minnesota would go up by $194 million (14 percent) in the House bill but just $94 million in the Senate.
Some Senate Republicans say even that’s too much, noting that college enrollment has been dropping for several years.
“The priorities are upside-down here,” said Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa. “If the kids aren’t going there anymore, we don’t send them more money.”
Free college
One of the few key points of agreement between the House and Senate is to spend $8.5 million each year to cover the full cost of college tuition and fees for American Indians who live in the state or who are enrolled in a tribe here. The grants would be good for any two- or four-year college in the Minnesota State or University of Minnesota systems.
Tribal members already attend the U’s Morris campus at no charge, and the U offers free or heavily discounted tuition to American Indian students at its four other campuses.
As to the Senate DFL’s desire to make college free for students from families making less than $80,000, Fateh said it “makes an important promise that any Minnesotan who wants to earn a degree, enter the workforce and support their family has the ability to do so.”
Republicans noted leaders at the U oppose that provision, saying lawmakers could do more for college affordability by simply appropriating more unrestricted money to the U’s entire system.
Meanwhile, the House wants to grow the state grants program by $39 million. The same program, which subsidizes student attendance at public and private colleges based on family income, would grow by $46 million under the Senate bill.
More details
The two pieces of legislation include many smaller initiatives, such as:
• A new grant program for college students who are expectant parents or parents of young children. The Senate’s offering more one-time money over the biennium, but the House wants much more permanent funding, of $3.5 million a year.
• The House wants a $10 million increase in biennial grants for teaching candidates who are people of color or who are low-income and planning to work in a shortage area or in rural Minnesota.
• The Senate wants $5.7 million more for emergency grants for students struggling with food, housing and transportation, plus $2.3 million in grants for colleges to establish food pantries.
• And the Senate wants $20 million for a new University of Minnesota campus for rural medicine at CentraCare in St. Cloud.