House committee adopts DE1 for higher education omnibus bill, shifts funding and policy for state grants and student supports

The House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee on April 17 adopted the DE1 amendment to House File 2312 and voted to re‑refer the amended bill to the House Ways and Means Committee after a voice vote.

The package, described by nonpartisan staff as a mix of finance and policy changes, moves money among higher education programs, adjusts how the state calculates some student aid awards and changes the structure of several competitive grants and transfers. Committee members and dozens of public testifiers discussed the bill’s effect on state grant awards, foster‑youth higher‑education supports, medical training in Greater Minnesota and university research funding.

Ken Savory of the House Fiscal Analysis Department reviewed the spreadsheet attached to the DE1 amendment for committee members. Savory said the amended state grant program shows a change to the base of $33,448,000 for the upcoming biennium (with tails of $35,282,000), bringing the program’s totals to about $483.58 million in FY 2026–27 and $485.41 million in the tails. He also listed line‑by‑line changes for dozens of smaller programs, noting some items were held at base, some were reduced and others reallocated to different accounts.

The amendment moves some emergency assistance funds directly to institutions rather than routing them through…