With federal money at risk, Minnesota’s public colleges stress high stakes of state budget debate
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Leaders of Minnesota’s two main college systems routinely approach lawmakers with big financial requests and promises of returns of those investments. This year, they’re coming to the Capitol with added urgency as they brace for potential federal pullbacks.
The timing isn’t ideal: College leaders are well aware that money is tight in St. Paul, too, and lawmakers are intent on heading off a future deficit by passing a leaner budget.
“We’re realistic that the state is facing some financial challenges,” said Chancellor Scott Olson with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
By the time Minnesota’s Legislature gets down to writing budget bills, there might be more clarity about federal programs. President Donald Trump’s administration is sending signals it’ll clamp down on money, including for research grants.
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Melissa López Franzen, executive director of government and community relations at the University of Minnesota, highlighted why leaders there are on edge.
“We bring $1.3 billion of research dollars to the state of Minnesota,” López Franzen said. “Most of that is federal funding, so any inquiry on those funds really begs the question of the longer term impacts.”
López Franzen is a former legislator and state Senate leader, so she knows the hurdles ahead. She and Olson have been making the rounds at the state Capitol, underscoring the value of what the schools mean for the state and the graduates that make up part of Minnesota’s future work force.
López Franzen promotes the university as a vital pipeline — from training health care workers to its extension program to its lab research breakthroughs.
“What I’m telling the Legislature is we cannot continue to function without your support, and we can't continue to function without predictability of resources,” she said.
Minnesota State College Southeast student Grace Horn understands the value of work and money.
“I work as a teller for a corporate bank, and then my secondary job being with LeadMN as their treasurer. And then I work cashier jobs on the weekends, every single weekend. And I also am a musician. So I make my own music and do shows twice a month,” Horn said.
All of that is on top of being a three-quarter time student studying business management. Horn will graduate in the spring.
Horn has also been at the Capitol advocating for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, especially for measures to keep tuition and costs down for students.
“I’ve been looking back at the years in my life when secondary education was an afterthought. So thinking about affordable tuition now, I would have never had the chance to earn my degree and dedicate time to shape my career,” Horn said.
Horn is among many students, professors and leaders from Minnesota State and the University of Minnesota systems who are testifying and lobbying at the Capitol for their school systems.
For years, however, Republicans have intensely questioned whether too much money is being spent on administrative costs at the schools. And there is a competing tension over whether to feed dollars more directly to student aid programs that both public and private college students can access.
Those Republican voices will carry more weight this year now that the GOP controls the House and will have at least a seat at the negotiating table when the big decisions get made.
Republicans have been at odds with university decisions on other topics that could trip up the school come budget time.
Last month, when House Republicans held hearings for committees, they grilled a University of Minnesota public engagement initiatives director that gave an Outstanding Community Partnership award to Communities United Against Police Brutality, a nonprofit that says it monitors police brutality. Some members of the committee called it anti-police, and questioned why the University of Minnesota would give the organization an award.
House Higher Education Committee Chair Marion Rarick, R-Maple Lake, finished that hearing with a comment about the university.
“I would urge, because I can’t direct, the University of Minnesota to look hard and deep at themselves and the relationships and the partnerships that they currently have,” Rarick said. “And is that really in the best interest of the students, of the community and the state? I question after hearing everything today that they are making good choices in those partnerships and relationships.”
At a recent Senate Higher Education committee hearing, DFL Sen. Robert Kupec of Moorhead endorsed more funding for both systems.
“We are still nowhere near funding higher education at the percentage we were 25 years ago,” Kupec said. “We’re just not there yet, and I think that is the key piece that is missing.”
Minnesota has receded in the amount it puts toward higher education as a percentage of the budget. Consider that in the 2004-05 state budget, the category made up about 8.9 percent of the overall pie. A decade later that was about 7.1 percent. The current budget has it at 5.9 percent.
For the next two years, the University of Minnesota is asking for $235 million in additional operations funding. That includes $45 million to address workforce shortages and create partnerships in rural Minnesota; $40 million for research in biomanufacturing, agriculture, hypersonics and green iron; $30 million for student services, including mental health and food insecurity; and $120 million to keep salaries competitive and to increase security, safety and compliance.
The University of Minnesota is also requesting $200 million for upkeep and repairs for infrastructure.
Minnesota State is seeking $465 million in supplemental funds, including $40 million for student support services for things like mental health and emergency grants; $40 million to upgrade equipment and spaces for workforce programs; $285 million to help flatten tuition costs for students and $100 for infrastructure repairs, upkeep and demolition.
New funding requests often face a tough road. As the state looks to tighten its budget, the hurdles are even higher. While Gov. Tim Walz’s proposed budget includes baseline operational funding for both institutions, it did not include add-ons for either system.
A Walz infrastructure plan would steer $103 million each toward University of Minnesota and Minnesota State asset preservation projects
Chancellor Olson’s pitch to legislators is largely economic. He talks about the large number of workers, including in high-need trades, that the system educates.
“Minnesota is going to need every single person who wants to be part of the workforce to have a shot at the workforce. Minnesota needs that, and so helping everybody find a path into the workforce by being affordable, by being available, accessible and having the programs Minnesota needs,” Olson said. “That’s in every Minnesotan's interest.”