Issue Brief: higher education

Investment in education and instructional excellence
Minnesota’s economic future depends on a strong higher education system. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the University of Minnesota are key to developing a skilled workforce, attracting companies to do business here and ensuring that our state can compete globally.

However, our state’s investment in higher education has declined sharply in the past decade, resulting in double-digit tuition increases, program and staff reductions, and unsustainable levels of student debt.

Minnesota now ranks 28th out of 50 states in state and local higher education spending per capita, lower than Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. In 2000, students at Minnesota’s two-year public colleges paid a little over one-third of college costs in tuition and fees, with the state picking up the rest; now students pay for nearly three-quarters of the cost. Not surprisingly, Minnesota has the fourth highest average student loan debt in the country.

High-quality, accessible, affordable higher education is the key to Minnesota’s economic recovery. Education Minnesota supports:

• Providing an inflationary base funding increase for public education institutions each year of the biennium.
• Making public higher education affordable for all citizens through state and federal financial aid grants, loans and tax credits based on family income.
• Providing competitive salaries, continuously adjusted for inflation, to allow Minnesota colleges and universities to attract and retain the highest-quality employees.
• Ensuring that all PSEO, concurrent enrollment and online courses have the same content, rigor and accountability as traditional college courses.

Investment in infrastructure
The capital budget requests from the two public college and university systems will help to maintain the equipment, technology and facilities necessary to educate students for a competitive job market and global economy. Investment in higher education facilities also provides employment for construction workers, architects and others in the building professions.

• The Legislature should fund the higher education capital bonding requests.
• The Legislature should exempt the public higher education systems from the one-third debt service requirement starting with the 2014 session.

For more information, contact:
Jan Alswager, chief lobbyist, 651-292-4890, jan.alswager@edmn.org
Jodee Buhr, lobbyist, 651-292-4830, jodee.buhr@edmn.org

January 19, 2012