Higher Education Budget
NEW: Links to the Governor’s higher education budget recommendations.
We invite you to contribute your ideas for the state’s Higher Education budget. This forum is a space for you to join the discussion on how the state should prioritize funding for these issues.
(click images to enlarge)
NEW: Links to the Governor’s higher education budget recommendations.
MN State Colleges and Universities
Higher Education Facilities Authority
Try to be as specific as possible in your comments so that your suggestions can be fully utilized by the Higher Education Budget Division Committee. Thank you for adding your ideas to the discussion.
You may also share your ideas directly with your local Senator:
Follow this link to look up contact information for your Senator.
Follow this link to look up who represents you.
To learn more about the Senators who serve on the Higher Education Budget Committee, follow this link.
Red Wing
January 15th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
My step-daughter is a single mom with 3 sons…by 3 different fathers. Her current live-in boyfriend (father of the 3rd child) makes approximately $70,000. She is not employed. She is choosing not to marry the baby’s father because she qualifies for grants (she is attending college), and because she does not have to pay for health insurance or health care for her children. The taxpayers paid for the birth of all 3 children even though each child’s father earned a substantial income. I am a single mother working as a LPN for the state of MN at the prison in Stillwater. I earned less than $40,000 last year. I am struggling to help my daughter through college. We did not qualify for any grants. Once again, I will not receive a raise because I am a state worker. We need a review of Minnesota’s public assistance/financial aid. The system is being abused by too many teens/young single Mom’s. We are encouraging irresponsibility.
Faribault
January 16th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
II read the comment from the mom whose daughter is not married yet has 3 children from 3 different fathers. They don’t want to marry because she’s going to school and getting her schooling paid for by the state. While others are working their butts off and taking out loans, or we the parents are trying to help them (because they don’t qualify for anything because we make too much money).
Well, enough is enough. The entitlement mentality has to quit. Minnesota’s public assistance/financial aid programs MUST be revamped.
A good start would be to make the welfare credit cards that are replenished each month usable in Minnesota ONLY. If they use the excuse they are traveling to visit a sick parent/grandparent too bad. Rules are rules. And put a monitoring system in place to see where they are using their cards. If it’s someplace like Byerly’s or out of state. Cut their budget the following month.
Better yet do away with their cards, and go back to commodities and food stamps. It would probably safe us a bundle.
Start a baby sitting cooperative between the beneficiaries of the welfare programs. If you have a young mom who wishes to work, but can’t afford daycare, have another young mom who is staying home baby sit for the other - FREE. Rather than having the tax payers paying for daycare too.
Those who are getting their education paid for by us the taxpayers, should be made to have to pay the money back (interest free over a 10-20 year period of time). That way we are helping them get their higher education, and they are helping us by paying it back.
We can’t go on the way we are we need to get away from the entitlement mentality.
Thank-you.
Saint Michael
January 16th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I totally agree with Helen. The babysittting idea is great, I have thought that too in the past. Those woman should help each other by fulfilling each other’s needs, not the tax payors paying for them to go to work or school. Moms can get work credit and stay on welfare for watching other people’s children, and the payment would be the welfare they are already receiving. I am a public health nurse and it is very frustrating when I visit a mom who is not working but who receives benifits states “I have just wanted to always be a stay at home mother”…..really, well so have a lot of us, but we have to go to work to afford our bills and to pay taxes so other people can stay home and we pay our tab plus their tab? It is not fair and it does not make sense. The whole issue of not beleiveing in birth control because of religion really gets to me too. That is fine if that is what your beliefs are, but if you are going to have 12 children then you need to figure out how you are going to pay for them, instead of being on state assisted programs. A lot of people would have more children and stay at home with them IF THEY COULD AFFORD IT, but I guess they were born into a different religion so they are out of luck. I thought it was seperation of church and state, make the church pay for food and health insurance then if those families can not afford to financially support all of their children. What if I said it is against my religion to pay for other people’s choices and beliefs? I want my tax money to pay to help the environment, not help support all these people and their personal procreating choices.
New Hope
January 16th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I think the U of M should be held accountable for providing a very poor quality of education. After a single year at an out-of-state school, I had a better background than a senior undergrad at the U of M with a 4.0 GPA. I’m so glad I chose to go out of state, because the engineering program at the U of M is laughable. In addition, the U provides no programs for working adults (off-campus, evening) in the tech arena to pursue continuing education. I understand that the U of St. Thomas is working to help fill the lack of science & technology schooling in the state. I don’t see a point in tossing so much money at a university known mostly for sports and political liberals.
Carver
January 17th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
If the person has not been a resident in the US for at least 7 years; they need to pay a premium to attend MN State schools equivalent to the amount of taxes contributed through the course of 7 years by the residents of this state.
Eliminate all state tuition funding preferences based upon discrimination of income and race. Spread the money across all students equally to reduce the tuition for every student. If you are capable of going to college; you are capable of working for it.
Force the college to live within the budget of the citizens of the state; tuition increases and spending changes need to coincide with the annual inflationary rates. Reduce state expenditures on higher education and have the people using the schools pay for the true costs; this will create a level playing field for “private” organizations to compete and drive higher results.
Saint Paul
January 18th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
The University is behind most of the new high technology jobs in this state. Cutting funding to the University will harm the future of the state. Doing so would be extremely shortsighted and counterproductive in the long term.
Wilmont
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:16 pm
The University of Minnesota Crookston does provide a new degree called Applied Studies which allows people with technical backgrounds to finish a bachelor of science. The University at Crookston also has Online Health Science, Business Management and Manufacturing Management degrees available which correspond with people coming in with life experience in these areas.
Wilmont
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Oops-Forgot to mention the Applied Studies is all online also. I am enrolled in that program currently. I can work on my degree as I find the time and money. I take anywhere from 1-3 classes per semester and have found the classes to be high quality and the instructors knowledgeable. It is different than the classroom situation, but online chat, email and other technology leaves me feeling satisfied with my education (I am 25 years out of high school with a varied educational career and working full-time plus and have a family).
Minneapolis
January 25th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Are not the many campuses, test sites and agricultural stations of the State system, most with their own administrators, inherently redundant and inefficient? Since students travel and live at these various mostly outstate locations, what makes a difference between a 50 mile trip and a 75 mile trip?
However, reducing these sites by 20% could save 100 million dollars. The military closes bases, school districts close schools, why can’t the University downsize for economy?
Maple Grove
January 25th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Two points -
1.) The Board of Regents has repeatedly asked for double digit tuition increases that exceed the rate of inflation for the last five years. Someone needs to account for either the bad management that makes these radical increases necessary, or look seriously as to what NEW uses that money is being used for.
2.)As much as everyone knows that we may have a geographically HIGH DENSITY University system. It is politically difficult for legislators to find the will of a statesman and say “Time to close (insert name) campus” because of the howling that ensues from the local county, municipal constituency.
I would ask you to SERIOUSLY review item one, I will pray that someone has the stamina, or is near enough to retiring to propose item two.
Mankato
January 26th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Look at tuition rates at a MnSCU school. Double that to account for state support. Now compare that to the private colleges.
MnSCU is already doing what the private schools do for about one-third to one-half the dollars. So why would you freeze wages, decrease funding, and cap tuition on an agency that is already demonstrating the ability to perform at budgeting levels FAR below those found in the private sector?
Also, accountability is easy for each prospective student to measure. All he/she needs to do is to find out the placement rates and starting salaries for the current graduates. This is public information that is readily available.
Brainerd
January 26th, 2009 at 10:17 am
For every case where the fathers of single mothers’ children make enough to help pay for education, there are probably 20 who do not have access to those resources. I admire all parents who are struggling to either get through college themselves or sending their kids there… I fall in the latter category. However, education is the ONLY way out of poverty and chronic reliance on various state and other systems. I do not want to see any cuts to education… E-16. Our state is slipping in competitiveness because we are continually draining resources from education.
Burnsville
January 27th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Currently, eligible Minnesota junior and senior high school students may take college level classes at participating local colleges or community colleges at no cost whatsoever.(Tuition, fees and books included.) Many students are able to take these courses, receive college credits and upon graduation enter four year institutions as sophomores, having completed enough coursework to eliminate one entire year. While in principal, I believe this is a great program-it gives students the opportunity to take a broader selection of courses than high schools can provide, and it allows them to experience college coursework and the college environment firsthand. However, I believe this program should be means tested. In lean times I see no reason why taxpayers should have to subsidize the college education of students from families whose income would preclude them from receiving federal financial aid. There should be some fee or perhaps a reduced hourly credit rate for these students but it should not be completely free unless your income meets certain financial benchmarks. Taxpayers should not be subsidizing college credit costs of high school students whose family incomes well exceed FAFSA guidelines.
new hope
January 28th, 2009 at 9:50 am
It is vital that the state and federal government maintain the student loan programs and make higer education affordable and provide opportunity for our citizens. The key to a strong workforce is education and opportunity. Several of the lenders in the program are getting out of the student loan business because they do not consider ir profitable enough to loan even though they have no risk. If they are going to accept federal and state money they should be required to remain in the student loan business
Saint Peter
January 28th, 2009 at 11:09 am
I will have three children in college next year and BEG the legislature to keep in mind people like me. I still am wrestling with how I will help pay for that 3rd child and am worried that she may ahve to wait a year to start her college creer, which I believe is detrimental to her future. I am not sure how to solve this problem, but I know it is one of the areas that we regular folks are in need of some help or additional funding.
Anoka
January 28th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I went to the University of MN but left in the middle of my second quarter because of the foolish nonsense. The university and others need no more state $millions. It is bloated with overpaid non working professors and administrators. It has a Multi-$Billion Dollar Endowment aFund and millions of dollars in land. The lazy Professors need to start teaching again versus using techs to earn their money. They need to get real about teaching real classes vs basket weaving nonsense. It costs almost twice as much to go to school here as any where else…WHAT??? Cut these arrogant moochers off the state dole!
Cold Spring
January 29th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Professors on sabbitcal should not be paid wages funded with taxpaper money. This money should come from alumni giving or another source. The alumni are giving to support and create their college of choice.
All administrative pay and benefits should be cut by five to ten percent. A pay increase and hiring freeze combined with tuition caps is also needed for the next two years. This follows the recommendation of a two-year freeze on wages for state employees.
Multi-million dollar stadiums and high price coaches are not a good use of taxpayer education funds. The majority of funding for these multi-million dolllar stadiums and high priced coaches should come from the students, alumni, and people who are very much involved in the sports program. This also should apply to the arts, journalism, technology, music, theatre,etc. programs.
Public funded means to me that all can and will benefit. Everyone benefits from basic college courses, but all do not benefit from sports events, art shows, theatre productions, etc. Let each one of us support where our interests lie.
Eagan
January 29th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I am writing to you as a single mother who has raised three daughters alone on a income of less than $50,000 per year and have had two of those daughters attend local colleges only to graduate and end up owing huge tuition bills. I think the State of Minnesota needs to stop cutting higher education funding which will only result in higher tuition rates for our children and thus huge tuition bills that they will face after college. I see my daughter’s huge tuition bills and wonder how they will ever be able to afford to even buy a house or have a family with the debt they already owe. I would rather pay a little more in taxes than see the higher education funding be cut. I don’t know if the State of Minnesota has ever thought of doing this, but if this revenue shortfall is a short-term situation and we expect the economy to improve and the revenue to improve in a few years, why not implement a temporary tax increase to help cover our short fall, with higher paid Minnesotans shouldering a more equal share of income taxes?
delano
January 29th, 2009 at 11:14 am
We need to start with the premise that not all high school grads should go to college. There are good and viable options like tech school or military. I think MnSCU should take a sizable hit this go around, with a tuition freeze. They are in need of some routine house cleaning.
delano
January 29th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I forgot to mention that I will have two kids in college next year.
North Mankato
January 29th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
MNSCU has too many college campuses. There is at least 69 colleges. Year after year tuition increases and each college has their hands out for extra state taxpayer’s money. When private businesses grow too large and they come into financial difficulties they reduce the number of stores so they can remain profitable. MNSCU and the University of Minnesota just take more form the state taxpayers and more from the students. Lets make some cut backs!
Mankato
January 29th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
MSU-Mankato at the present time is preparing for an 11% budget cut. These budget cuts will eliminate adjunct faculty, will eliminate many assistantships for graduate students (which I am proud to be one of, I just wish the state of Minnesota was proud of fellow students such as myself), and a possible cut of as many as 100 faculty members through the retrenchment process. This will mean larger class sizes with class sizes for 100level classes set in the hundreds, cuts in electives, and a tuition increase for those who are able to afford to stay in school (I dare say many students will not be able to afford to stay in school). I have already heard from fellow graduate assistants in my department that they will not be able to afford their dream of pursing a masters degree. The victims in these proposed cuts are the students. Students who work hard for a higher education, who understand that in order to succeed in life and to have a better life for yourself that you need a higher education. I worked hard for my bachelors degree as an undergraduate and did so without any financial assistance and working 35hours a week to do so. I did that on top of a full credit load as well. Students like myself should not be expected to have to work that hard in order to pay for their education and should not have to depend upon astronomical student loans to fund an education. I have now gone to graduate school and I don’t know what the possible elimination of my assistantship will mean for next year.
I ask that the state legislature spread the pain of budget cuts fairly and I would ask that they remember that it’s hardworking men and women like myself who are the victims with these proposed budget cuts, hardworking men and women who want to make a better life for themselves and who want to pursue their dreams.
Mankato
January 30th, 2009 at 2:10 am
Higher Education: Some how colleges need to be supported by the Minnesota state with higher dollar amounts in the budget.
This affects the colleges and the community they are in.
College is getting out of the reach of even middle income citizens. Colleges need more aid for grants and Schlorships. Keep the cost of higher education in line with the Cost Of Living!!
Minneapolis
January 30th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
MnSCU and Public higher education is the key to the state’s economic recovery. It can provide training for laid-off workers and provide Minnesotans with unique skills that can attract businesses to the state. We need to rotect whats happening at our college-TEACHING and LEANERING!
Moorhead
January 30th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
As a faculty member at Minnesota State University Moorhead, I can’t help but be disturbed by the governor’s proposed budget. He is willing to sacrifice the quality of High Education in the state and require our children and families to pay for what is already an under-funded state system (according the State Constitution). The decision to “cut budgets, but keep a firm cap on tuition” is a recipe for reduced educational quality. The belief that funds, faculty, and entire programs can be cut without our students and the future development of the state being grossly affected should called what it is: wishful thinking. SOMEONE will pay for those cuts…it may be in the form of continuing rising tuition over the next decade (as the state funding base continues to erode), or in the form of reduced quality through larger or eliminated classes (aka, a less well educated workforce as we head into the the most globally competitive market in history). Please carefully consider voting AGAINST balancing the budget on the backs and futures of our state’s lowest income, yet highest-promise citizens: our college students.
White Bear Lake
January 30th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Teaching and Learning are central to the states economic recovery. Higher education will help Minnesotans in a time when a lot of people are losing their jobs and need to be re-trained or go back to school for another trade or degree. We need to protect and enhance higher education so that tuition doesnt rise and our faculty are not layed off.
Fergus Falls
January 31st, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Continuing to support higher education is extremely important in these difficult economic times. Cutting funding to the state colleges and universities lowers our ability to serve students. We all know that cuts to higher education will result in a greater burden to students who wish to pursue a college education. We also know that if we don’t fund colleges and universities, the options available to those individuals that are being laid off and seeking re-training, will decrease. For those students who are currently at our colleges and universities, the consequences of budget cuts in higher education institutions will remain evident. When money is tight poor decisions are often made. The needs of students are not kept in the forefront, where they should be. Support services are often turned to when money needs to be saved. Counseling, tutoring, multicultural services… advising, student life, technology support…. and several others - are easy to turn toward when money needs to be saved. The problem with this is that we fail to see how much of a positive impact these very services have on students. When things go well on college campuses people tend to think that those services aren’t needed. The real reason that thing are going well is because those services are available to students. While we all understand that we need to save money and make wise decisions about the efficiency of money we are spending - we should not sacrifice the needs of our students in order to save a buck. I’m all for colleges needing to be accountable for how they are spending money. This only makes good sense. So, ask for accountability. We can and should be able to explain how financial support is being used. Please think twice before proposing further cuts in financial support to higher education institutions. Students deserve the chance to go to college without compromising their financial futures. The funding provided by our state to higher education institutions is imperative to our overall economic well-being.
Verndale
January 31st, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Today’s economic times are very difficult for all of us. We are seeing huge lay-offs in my area which is impacting peoples ability to function and to maintain proper mental health. These times are very difficult. We are seeing an influx of people needing to retrain into new positions and and seek employment in new directions. Technical colleges are the perfect source for assisting these individuals in difficult times. College budgets have been slashed to a level of devastation. Viable programs and personnel are being cut to meet budgetary requirements. I work at the college in Wadena and we have been seriously impacted by program cuts, closures and layoffs of personnel. The most difficult issues that we are facing are that programs that teach a trade (in a one or two year span) are being cut, college counselors are being cut, faculty are being cut and various programs are being moved to campuses that are out of reach for our student population. We are forcing students to re-locate or drive extensive distances to accomplish their goals. The people coming to us through job lay-off and industry closures are persons who have had their whole life disrupted, are emotionally volatile and are in desperate need of support and counseling. We are not able to assist them as counseling positions have been slashed in order to meet budgetary demands. I ask that you please find a way to support higher education and to possibly look at appropriate counseling ratios to ensure that we have enough skilled, trained and qualified counselors to assist the people coming to us in these desperate times. I realize this is a difficult position for you but it is critical if we are to assist and train new workers who will be productive and contributing members of society!
Saint Paul
January 31st, 2009 at 8:01 pm
The Governor and too many others see education as an expenditure rather than an investment. State support of higher education is shrinking and it is getting harder and harder for public schools to compete with private schools, which are also becoming more and more out of reach for students because of the high cost of tuition. It is just not true that public universities are providing “free” education to the public. We’re setting up our public universities for failure if we continue our shrinking investment in them. We need the engineers, teachers, plumbers and artists these universities educate! I love this quote from Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York: “Education is different because you’re investing human resources that are necessary to change a society, a system. Even retraining some of these people who are let go, is through education. Education is very central to our democracy. You can neglect it, you can get it on the cheap, and you get what you pay for. And if you think education is costly, try ignorance, because that will be far more costly.” [From interview with Bill Moyers on Bill Moyers Journal, aired January 30, 2009 on TPT.]
St. Paul
February 1st, 2009 at 11:05 am
As a graduate of one MNSCU school (SCSU) and now a faculty member at another (Century College), I can attest personally and professionally to the profound importance of higher education to the well-being of the individual, the community, and the state.
A good higher education does not only provide students with knowledge that will help them succeed in their careers; it provides them with experiences and education that help them think critically, interact effectively with others, solve problems, and navigate complexity well. It teaches them how to examine issues and circumstances from different perspectives than their own, to interact with empathy and respect, to succeed in various roles in their personal lives and in the workplace. The benefits of a higher education for individuals are numerous, and these individuals will go on to become the workers and leaders in our communities.
As our legislators make decisions about the budget, I urge them to keep in mind that providing a good education for students requires good funding, and they should make decisions that honor the well-being of students and teachers and the integrity of teaching and learning.
1. Students need access to higher education, so I hope that tuition is not raised. Raising tuition only excludes more and more students from being able to attend. Being saddled with a huge amount of debt after college is not a fair way to “begin” one’s professional life, and as we have learned from the recent recession, it is no way to build a strong economy either. Students who cannot attend college because of high tuition may face an even worse fate of low wages or no opportunity for advancement in a career.
2. Students do not succeed in college only because of their own efforts and great instructors. They are helped by counselors, tutors, records and financial aids staff, and IT help desks, to name only a few. Teachers also rely on support staff to carry out their teaching well. Cutting funding for support staff is a way of cutting the chance of success for some students.
3. Teachers need adequate pay and benefits for the time and energy required to teach well. They should not be under anxiety about their insurance premiums or that they are not compensated fairly for their often 50-70 hour work weeks they put in. Likewise, building higher education with more and more adjunct instructors who are not compensated as well as full-timers is also unfair and should not be relied on as a way to save money.
Legislators should do their best to make decisions that are good for people, not just the budget. After all, this is the only way to strengthen our economy and our state from the “bottom” up. The well-being of people must come first; the rest will follow.
Red Wing
February 1st, 2009 at 11:55 am
I am nursing faculty at MNSCU - Southeast Technical in Red Wing. We are seeing students every day who have been laid off and are returning to school to learn new careers like nursing. Gov. Pawlenty’s budget cuts are going to be devastating to these students who are already dealing with lay-offs. When they attempt to return to school, they will be finding perhaps their local community colleges eliminated as some have suggested, or poorly staffed and underfunded. This is a slap in the face of our fellow Minnesotans. Now is the time to increase access to higher education for all of our laid off workers. Higher education is the key to economic recovery for Minnesota.
Madison Lake
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:13 pm
MnSCU could make take a major step in getting costs into line by closing the 10 smallest campuses in Minnesota. With over 30 campuses some less than 30 miles apart and some in towns of less than 5000 population, it doesn’t make any sense in the long term to keep these campuses open. Most of these campuses few viable programs and those which could be transferred to another nearby college. The drain caused by these small colleges causes all other colleges to face even greater challenges with state budget shortfalls in providing quality education at an affordable price.
Buffalo
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:33 am
The state needs to open all higher education institutes to research, not just the U of M. The state also needs to have in place a fair and reasonable intellectual properties agreement for research that turns into profit. Right now, many researchers either will not do profitable research in Minnesota (they do all the background research then move on) or retire to continue their pursuits. This amounts to intellectual slavery on many levels. It is about time for this state to use all it’s intellectual resources and not just the ones that are politically justified. Research also needs to diversify, being a leader in Biotechnologies is fine but not at the sacrifice of other disciplines. For example, Minnesota has one of the most diverse set of biomes of any state in the union, yet we have one of the poorest resource management policies in the union. Now I know that the MNSCU system has the brain power to change that but narrow mindedness has all but killed the potential to fix this.
Bigelow
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:59 am
In my opinion these students are the future of this world. The parents are trying to invest for the future within their kids education but the state is taking that away. We need these kids educated so they can take over and make this a better place without alot of debt.
Eagle Lake
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 am
Cutting higher education is absurd. These students are the future of this state and country. What do you propose this students do when they can’t afford to go to college and then can’t get a job once they’ve dropped out? Educated citizens are a long-term solution for our current issues. Please invest in higher education verses a short-term fix with longlasting negative consequences. Mel Hoffner
Courtland
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I am a faculty member in MNSCU system. Over the last 10 years the funding for higher education has been a target for balancing the state’s budget problems. Reason, student can be asked to pay higher percentage of the cost of their respective education. At some point this can not continue, if higher education wants to serve the majority of students in this state. MNSCU may need to close or reduce the number of administrative units to help decrease the cost of overhead of credits that are sold in the system. Simply put, increase the efficiency administration (system wide) reduce the number of campus presidents, V.P and Deans by combining Colleges and campuses. This savings could be in the Millions of dollars. This may also require the reduction of campus locations or facility space that is not utilized with some degree of efficiency. Several locations do not serve the system very well with small campus enrollments or the fact that another MNSCU site is only 12-20 mile away and not completely utilized.
Rochester
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:04 pm
The first suggestion is to get out of the cycle of highs and lows and start planning for bad times before they happen. The state government must be able to bond for years in advance to be able to spend and invest in our future when bad times come. One way to invest in the future of Minnesota is to continue a high level of funding for both MnSCU and the University of Minnesota. Higher Education is the path to continued success in this state. The MnSCU system’s 2 year schools provides retaining opportunities across the state for people who are laid off or looking for retraining. We should not expect that everyone have a college education for success but we should expect that everyone has the opportunity to seek a college education.
Viola
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Community and Technical Colleges provide the best value for the money of any education system in MN. In these difficult times the need for higher education to compete in the global marketplace becomes even more important. We need to keep tuition affordable for students and also keep salaries attractive so that we can retain and recruit competent, motivated and excited educators to provide learning opportunities to our future generations.
The future of our state, country and planet depend on them. Let’s not shortchange the future by cutting funds for education today.
Minneapolis
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Hello Senators,
Although I appreciate the size and complexity of your budget reduction task, I am writing to ask you to maintain higher education funding levels as much as you can. Higher ed is counter-cyclic - when folks are laid off, they go back to school. Some statistics show that for every dollar invested in higher education, seven are returned to the economy over time. It is important not to reduce funding and class offerings now when classes are most needed.
Thank you for your hard work on behalf of Minnesotans.
Sue Fitzgerald, PhD
Professor of Computer Science
Metropolitan State University
Kasson
February 4th, 2009 at 6:30 am
Dear Senators,
I have been a Mathematics Instructor for over 20 years at the college level. The better paying jobs now and in the future require higher-level skills that will largely be obtained at post-secondary educational institutions. I do not understand why funding for higher education continues to be cut when our future workforce continues to need higher-level skills than in the past. I would strongly encourage the Governor, and those who agree with his funding cuts for higher education, to re-think what they are doing. An uneducated or under-educated population has very negative consequences to our state and nation. Lets strive toward the goal of getting Minnesota back as a leader in higher education with proper support and funding.
John Buchl 2/4/09
Instructor of Mathematics
Rochester Community and Technical College
Moorhead
February 4th, 2009 at 8:59 am
As more Minnesotans are laid off many will decide to start a new career or trade. They will be turning to some of the MnSCU colleges and universities to get the schooling they need to be successful. I realize all Minnesota has to share in the pain of this deficit but I urge all legislators to limit the cuts in funding to higher education. Let’s keep the Minnesota work force a well educated and well trained work force.
Rochester
February 4th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Labor contracts should NOT be used as political tools and I am tired of it being seen as such.
Step increases for performance should not be used as a political tool either. It does not take 15 years for an employee to learn to do their job and that is what the system reflexes right now. Freezing the Hayes system for 3 years is telling me that I do not know how to do my job, not that you are trying to save money.
I can, maybe, understand freezing our wages for ONE year and reassessing where we stand next year but trying to freeze our wages, step increases, and forcing us to take cuts in insurance for next 3 years and then telling us that we have no recourse, that will have only negative results for the state. Last I checked I am still a free person. I and many well other professionals can and will show you what we think, and just quit the moment a better job presents itself. Its a matter of reciprocated loyalty. Minnesota’s government works because we work hard to make it work. For what you are trying to force us to take you may be able to get a fresh out of college intern to do our jobs but I hope you are ready to see Minnesota all over the national news because incompetent underpaid workers making stupid mistakes that cost you many many many times more then the few dollars you rung our of the contracts. (penny wise pound foolish)
Let me offer you something that actually will help save the state of Minnesota real money. Give workers a way to report government waste from within, set up an audit board that responds to internal reports of government waste and kills unnecessary projects in our time of scarcity, there are millions of dollars spent on projects that could either be delayed, scaled back, or completely killed as unnecessary but the way the budget system works now, we reward spending every last dollar of a budget rather then trying to save and return the unneeded portion back to the state.
TRY ATTACHING PAY INCREASES TO COST SAVINGS in budgets and you will see unneeded pork disappear from budgets everywhere because it is now in everyones best interests to save money. And I am not just talking about managers and presidents but actual employees too.
In this time of scarcity it is those who are creative and learn to do more with less who will get us though to the better times. Reward innovation, give us a chance to help you as you help us and we will come though these hard times ready to lead the way to a brighter future.
Please, do not support Bill SF 372 as it stands.
Duluth
February 4th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Support is essential for higher education, especially at a time of the large number of job layoffs. This is when people turn to education. This is not the time to cut back on funding to support student learning throughout the state. The schools available in the northern part of the state are widely spread out, more than in the Twin Cities region. Any campus closures would have a more significant impact here than the Twin Cities. Access to education is essential. The growth in tuition must also be curbed.
Cottage Grove
February 5th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Before we reduce the higher education budget we should ask
them to provide solutions for now and their solution to
future problems like those created by social security
and medicare shortfalls. We have invested in educaiton
for many decads. Now is the time for eduction to provide
a return to taxpayers on that education. If they have
good ideas they should be funded, if not the should bear
substantial cuts. The smartest and brightest should have
reasonable solutions. If not we are in deep trouble.
Rochester
February 8th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Minnesota is a great place to live because of the quality of education available. To not add a dime to future budgets is to decrease the current level of funding. We can’t go backwards but increase funding which I believe can occurr by cutting the number of administrators and their salaaries. The result of this acction will NOT decrease the quality of education currently offered!
Eagan
February 11th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
My second child at Winona. Tuition there is higher than the reciprocal tuition her older sister paid in Wisconsin.
After the proposed budget cuts, tuition should not increase. Colleges and Universities must begin a regimen of cost cutting measures. They have been immune from the marktplace and they need to understand they no longer have that immunity.
I suggest the following: maximize electronic distribution of lectures, notes and text materials…podcasts, links to current research, etc. (elimiate text books).
Offer more legitimate courses online. Properly administered these coursed could be offered world wide.
Reduce the University to legitimate academic pursuits. That means eliminating any (OK most) degree programs that did not exist 50 years ago. That includes Black history, Women’s studies, GLBT studies and other “social” programs These do not serve students, they use tax dollars to promote an agenda. These are silly programs that cost taxpayers enormous amounts of money and get the students nothing.
Would I, as an employer, hire a BA in GLBT studies? NO!
The key is that University administrators, instead of just crying for more, as they always have, need to figure out how to do with less.
Call me. I’m a financial consultant. I can help you.
Andover
February 18th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
The University of MN just received a 50 million dollar grant.
This is on top of the millions (billions?) that they have in their coffers. But guess what? The only thing that increases faster than health care costs is tuition.
Where is this money going? What are they spending it on.
There are too many high paid tenured professors sitting on their duffs while TA’s to the teaching.
Cut their salaries, lay them off. Use the money that people donate. Take a hit just like the poor people that struggle to fund their kids educations do.
The budget at the U needs to be open to the public, we need to see that they are wasting money on.
Pipestone
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:59 am
Savings Suggestions:
Create 7 Regional MnSCU Business Offices (NE, NW, Central, North Metro, South Metro, SW, and SE) to carry out the human resource, financial, purchasing & materials management, and accounting functions for multiple colleges rather than each having their own. For example, the SW Business Office could serve Minnesota West Community & Technical College, Southwest MN State University, and Ridgewater College.
Eliminate Athletics at Community & Technical Colleges. Intramural sports should be adequate for student life on each campus. Inter-collegiate only serve a small number of students compared to the whole student body.
If you look at the MnSCU Budget Allocation, in nearly all the liberal arts courses offered, the expenses exceed revenues. Require State Universities and Colleges to combine classes so that students in a math class are from multiple college campuses. ITV and Internet Classes make this possible. Colleges can share the costs and the tuition and state aid revenue. Yes, this would eliminate teaching positions but more of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum offerings would be in the black instead of the red. See MnSCU Budget Allocations by CIP. http://www.finance.mnscu.edu/budget/allocations/docs/2007fy_instruction_detail_by_cip.xls
High Education needs an equal share to the Federal Stimulus Package. Tuition is way to high, and Technical College Campuses are falling farther and farther behind in technology in their labs. There’s more to technology than computers. Labs need the latest technology in equipment in their field. Colleges rely on technical education to pay for liberal arts and the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum. So, technology and new program offerings to meet today’s business needs suffer. Any more cuts to higher education funding will jeapardize a highly skilled workforce. Something we had years ago when the state actually had vocational schools.
Breckenridge
February 28th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Come on people!! Some one has to answer the question asked earlier. How come tuition increases at rates twice as high as inflation or cost of living, year after year?? Where is that money going??
My son attends the U of M Minneapolis. I attended St Cloud State in the 80’s. There is a world of difference in the amenaties afforded students now compared to then. I am not advocating austerity but a wash machine that emails you when your laundry is done?, come on! Who is paying for that? A bathroom complete with shower for every two rooms? What happened to one per floor plan? My first son survived just fine at St. John’s, the evil private school, without the frills and he was paying double the tuition.
And yes, I agree, if I am paying tuition out of my pocket I want to be taught by the prof, not his assistant. And no, I do not want to pay a professor on sabatical to further his or her career. Do it on your on own time like my elementary teacher wife has to do every year just to maintain her license.
Oh, and by the way, maybe the profs should have to take some classes on teaching methods like teachers in pre-secondary ed do. Just a crazy thought since they are teaching.
We all have to realize that secondary ed is an industry with many non governmental vendors who have a vested interest in the status quo. Business does not like change and the many vendors of equipment, services, student loans, housing, transportation, entertainment, etc.. do not want to see consolidation of campuses, state funded free education, or any other change detrimental to their plans.
Two Harbors
March 6th, 2009 at 11:52 am
It is key during this economic time to provide short duration, skilled educational training for those workers laid off from their jobs. As a teacher on the Lake Superior College campus, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in older students returning to school for retraining. Our campus provides much specialized training in the health fields, such as nursing, sonography, phlebotomy, dental hygiene that in 2 years train students for very lucrative jobs providing a perfect school to work opportunity for retrained students. Medical training is a valued skill that is still hiring and will continue to be in short supply as more baby boomers age. So it’s crucial to support our LSC/MNSCU campus funding to continue these opportunities. Higher education is key to the economic recovery of laid off workers and all of Minnesota.
Winona
March 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am
As the legislature gets ready for preparing a budget in view of the deficit, it should keep in mind that deep cuts in higher education is not a suitable repsonse to the problem. When the economy deteriorates admissions to unviersities increases and there is evidence that that is already happening now. To ask colleges and universities to respond to greater need for higher eduation with less resources is to impose undue burden on them. Further cuts would make it necessary to increase tuition that would not only be disincentive to students entering the gateway to better opportunities, it would push students into a much higher debt. Cuts in the past have made our universities as lean as they can be. The legislature must keep in mind three possibilites that might help us deal with this situation much better.
First, we should consider imposing moderate taxes either by taxing clothing purchases, or by increasing income taxes on the upper income people who are less affected by the economic downturn. Gasoline taxes are also perefectly justified. They would increase revenue and also encourage people to drive less or buy more fuel efficient cars.
Second, we should keep ensure that cuts to higher education are in the non-teaching sectors.Technical upgrades can wait until we can afford them.
Third, it is critical to carefully examine the Governor’s proposal to increase K-12 funding. That does not make sense when all other sectors are to be experiencing a reduction.
minneapolis
March 7th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Without a strong educational system, Minnesota will be competing with Alabama, Mexico, Vietnam, to provide the cheapest work force. This is not what Minnesota is, and it’s not what previous generations of Minnesotans have worked for. We need new technologies and a skilled workforce. We also need the analytic thinking about life and society that comes from the liberal arts — one pragmatic reason is so we can recognize situations where our values and economic/political/military systems are doing us more harm than good.
I also don’t want to pay for irresponsible people who cheat the system. I don’t think any system with a safety net can be perfect; we should improve the one we have. As far as lazy professors, yes there are a few probably, but most are hard-working. A professor who doesn’t teach many classes at the U is probably conducting research and supervising graduate students. Will their research provide immediate benefits? Perhaps not, but most technologies in daily use were a long time coming.
We need the University to compete — the attractive future belongs to the large attractive urban areas.
Winona
March 7th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Esteemed Minnesota representatives,
I am the Chairperson at the Department of Foreign Languages at Winona State University.
I am indeed extremely concerned about the impact that the announced budget cut to higher education would have in our students and faculty. The following points are a summary of how those cuts to higher education would potentially affect our department. Please keep in mind that this description would also be true for any other department who, like ours, is in the process of growing as a response to student demand and to the new economic and professional qualification requirements.
1. Every program responds to student demand more or less the same way: first faculty overload, then adjuncts, then we hire full term fixed term faculty and eventually a new tenure track position is filled (this last moves takes around 6, 7 years)
2. The Spanish program started five years ago with 2 tenure track faculty positions teaching 4 clases per semester, a total of 16 Spanish classes per academiv year.
3. In the past four years we have grown more than 100 per cent: from 16 to 40 sections, from 20 to 120 majors. We have also created classes for other departments (nursing, criminal justice, education, business) with the idea of adding value to their majors (i.e. 15,000 bonus for speaking Spanish) . Finally in the spirit of experiential learning, we have established 4 programs abroad, founded a honor society and created student organizations that volunteer in the community as teachers, translators, and community organizers.
4. In order to grow we have added (to the two tenure track position), two fixed terms, two adjuncts, plus 6 overloads per academic year.
5. The budget shortfall is potentially going to target the most vulnerable, less ‘permanent positions’,: overloads and adjuncts are surely to be gone, as well as our fixed term. That means a 65% cut in our teaching capability, 65% of student reduction. Students who want to take Spanish, minor, major, or double major, will have to be denied or they will have to stay 1 or two years more in order to be able to have a sit in the class.
5. The academic support from faculty for the students organizations, study abroad, interdisciplinary projects with other majors, as well as the services provided to the community,will just have to be cancelled.
As you can see, the announced cuts would disproportionally affect expanding programs as the relative precariousness of the new faculty positions make these more vulnerable than tenured positions and, therefore, will be the first to go. These positions are not easily replaceable. The faculty fired will accept a job somewhere else and take their accumulated experience, expertise, connections, and knowledge of our community and institution with them.
Thank you very much for your time. Please help us to continue educating future Minnesotan nurses, policemen, teachers and business owners by allowing them a seat in their dream of higher education. We are proud to educate Minnesota for Minnesota!
Minneapolis
April 5th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Real quick.
I’d like to speak with someone with regard to what I can do, and how many people I need to gather and to write letters to help stop our governor from making a decision and signing a budget affecting high ed funding that will permanently eliminate needed college teaching positions and programs, particularly at my school in Minneapolis.
I’m Perry Ruedy and teach Carpentry at MCTC (Mpls Comm and Tech College), part of MNSCu. We received our budget information this week regarding the cut and downsized programs that will permanently eliminate programs and positions (layoffs), during a time when everyone knows that attending school and re-tooling is needed for all the dis-placed workers. NOT everyone is COLLEGE bound and more Technical School bound, where will they go? We need these programs in and around the metro area. In Minneapolis, we are the ONLY Carpentry program and have a huge diverse student population of which we serve. The Carpentry program lab portion is primarily spent working Habitat for Humanity job sites, so we also are a give-back, service-learning, civic-engagement, very socially responsible program. I realize there’s a down turn in Carpentry right now, but it will come back, especially entry level positions and if we were to focus on remodeling and rehabbing of foreclosed homes. I know when President Obama says he wants education to pull ahead of the rest of the world, he has to put his money where is mouth is, or put parameters on the money, so that schools advance themselves.
MCTC’s budget cut, involved the elimination and cut back of almost 1/2 of the Career and Technology programs, Carpentry (my program) being one of them.
I’d like to know, so that I can affect state funding for higher ed, or find alternatives to get funding.
1. Who do I contact, so that I can have a voice?
2. Who do I write to for possible funding for my program area whether it be a collaborative grant or stimulus to help subsidize programs?
3. Who do I contact to get a strong message to our Governor so that he knows the affect of what he’s doing? and the impact?
4. I’d LOVE to speak with a real person about what I can do…any phone numbers/names or email links?
5. What media connections do you have to help aide me in my endeavor?
6. What federal funds are out there to help Career and Tech programs?
7. Is there any stimulus dollars to help prevent cut backs of programs that directly feed jobs?
8. Finally, is there anyone in the state (yourself or anyone else) that could meet with my college president: Phil Davis (612-659-6000) to help plead my case of keeping Carpentry (and other programs) especially during our depression? Right now, the CUTS and CLOSING of programs are at a “recommendation” stage and we are allowed to meet with our college president and vice president and provide information to help formulate their opinion prior to our governor stamping his signature on the bill coming up in May or June.
Feel free to call me directly on my cell any time of the day.
612-281-6703
Perry Ruedy
PS: I also have my own home remodeling business on the side, so I’m getting hit with a double wammie, as it’s a rough time.
Minneapolis
May 6th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I bet if Minnesota did away with or drastically reduced its immigrant and refugee financial assistance, we would save a ton of money there!
Don’t punish American children by cutting off support because their parents are lazy. Many of these immigrants come here with a sponsor who leads them through all of the loopholes and programs, and not once do they have to work to get an education or receive a monthly check. Minnesota just gives them everything! Yet, we Americans are expect to work 2, 3 , 4 jobs, take care of our kids, pay taxes, and sacrifice so lazy foreigners can reap the benefits!
Some of us taxpayers and veterans might need a leg up once in awhile and have a much harder time of getting it than some foreigner coming over here with a “mental health issue”.
If you want to talk about wasteful spending immigrants and refugees are the first place to look.
Gee…you don’t see other countries enticing Americans to move in with a welfare check!