University of Minnesota to ask Legislature for 15% boost in aid

After a previous show of pandemic era restraint, the University of Minnesota is dialing up a plan to seek a nearly 15% bump in state financial support over the next two years.

U officials told the Board of Regents on Thursday they want to ask legislators during the coming session to help cover inflationary costs plus efforts to improve safety on the Twin Cities campus and to boost financial aid for students statewide.

The university now receives a $689 million appropriation from the state, and the funding request would add $80 million in the 2023-24 academic year and $125 million in 2024-25.

The proposal comes months before a session to determine state spending over the next biennium. First, however, are elections that will decide who controls the House and Senate — and, in turn, what gets funded and whose ideas are heard.

Myron Frans, senior vice president for finance and operations, said the university's efforts to lure more in-state students, coupled with its contributions to agriculture and health care, should strengthen its standing among public entities vying to persuade policymakers to provide additional funding — especially with a large budget surplus.

"This is the right time for them to invest more in the university than they have in recent times," Frans said.

At this stage two years ago, the U was proposing a 3.5% increase in state funding over two years — one of its most modest requests in 20 years — and still came up short. So, too, did an effort this year to secure funding for the public safety and financial aid proposals — requests now being revived at a $35 million cost per year in the current package.

A proposal to create a new Greater Minnesota Scholarship Program, which failed to win legislative approval this year, has been tweaked and its proposed funding level dropped from $30 million to $20 million annually.

Envisioned as a way to lower student debt and boost enrollment on the U's regional campuses, the program would give every resident student up to $4,000 in their first year. The awards then would taper down each year before leveling off at $1,300 to $1,600 for students in their fourth year, according to the proposal.

The public safety measures would cost $5 million a year and would allow the U to:

The larger piece of the appropriation request — $45 million more in state aid for operations and maintenance — takes into account inflation and is based on the U's belief that it has $90 million worth of needs in those areas per year. The university is asking the state to be a partner and split the funding 50-50, officials say.

For its half, the U would consider spending cuts and increases in tuition revenue, prompting Regent Steve Sviggum to say it's unlikely to find enough savings through staff reductions to prevent what he believes could be a 6% to 8% tuition increase.

Otherwise, he liked what he heard.

"I strongly support the president's proposal," Sviggum said. "I think it's balanced. I think it's reasonable."