Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Private colleges urge Legislature to protect Minnesota State Grant funding
Summary
Leaders from Minnesota private colleges and a student told the House Higher Education Committee that a projected shortfall in the Minnesota State Grant program risks cutting awards for tens of thousands of students, and urged lawmakers to preserve funding.
Leaders of Minnesota private colleges told the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee on Tuesday that reductions in the Minnesota State Grant program would threaten access, completion and workforce pipelines for the state.
Paul Sirkvenik, president of the Minnesota Private College Council, told the committee the council’s 18 member institutions enroll more than 54,000 students and that “the shortfall in state grant funding is deeply concerning. If not addressed, this deficit could cause about 24,000 students of the 81,000 eligible students to lose their state grants entirely.”
The warning came during a panel that included presidents from the College of St. Scholastica and the University of St. Thomas and a student from St. Scholastica. The testimony emphasized the scale of private colleges’ economic and workforce contributions and the role of state need-based aid in keeping students enrolled…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
