Highlights of the higher-education bill
I'm having to go through all the bills coming out of the shutdown talks, so I can't get too deep into the higher-ed bill at the moment.
MPR colleague Tim Post should be doing more reporting on this later on, but here's a quick initial look at the highlights:
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Total funding: $2.6 billion
How it compares to current spending: 8.8 percent cut
How it compares to conference committee bill: More generous then the 10.9 percent cut in the conference committee bill.
How it compares to governor’s proposal: Much deeper cuts than Dayton’s proposal, which had reductions of 2.3 percent
University of Minnesota: 10.4 percent cut, but proposed tuition caps were stricken.
MnSCU: 10.6 percent cut.
State Grant Funding/Financial Aid: 7.3 percent increase – unchanged from the conference committee report. No changes to the funding for any other financial aid programs, such as work study, Indian scholarships and child care assistance.
Office of Higher Education: 5.4 percent cut to administration – just under half of the cut in conference committee bill. Various student support programs were cut about 12.5 percent.
Tuition caps: Proposed maximum tuition increases were stricken for both the U of M and all state-run universities. MnSCU’s two-year colleges (community and technical) can increase their tuition by no more than 4 percent for FY 2013.
Performance benchmarks: Both MnSCU and the U of M must hit certain benchmarks – in areas such as diversity, graduation rates and financial aid – to receive one percent of their funding.
Anti-cloning bill: Removed.
Senior citizens: Eligibility age for discounted college classes lowered from 66 to 62.
Tuition Guarantee Plan: Colleges and universities are encouraged to set up programs that offer stable tuition over four years to undergrads.
Credit transfers: MnsCU would have to provide progress reports and numbers of transfers, as well study successful transfer systems in other states.