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Legislative Updates

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Everyone in the Minneapolis College campus community is encouraged to help advocate for legislative support by sharing information about how lives are transformed when students experience the institution’s high-quality academic programs and exceptional levels of support that help overcome barriers. 

As part of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities System, Minneapolis College’s budget is considered by the State Legislature through a systemwide request. If approved, Minneapolis College’s portion of the Minnesota State allocation will provide funding to maintain existing levels of staffing and student services as well as maintain and continually improve its infrastructure and technology investments to accommodate students and employees. 

Supporting Minneapolis College and other Minnesota State colleges and universities helps students achieve their higher education goals affordably and helps the community by providing the talent employers need. Minneapolis College provides an affordable path for community members to elevate their socio-economic status and break the cycle of poverty through higher education. It serves as an anchor in the community at a time when extensive rebuilding of socio-economic systems is desperately needed. By serving under-represented students, Minneapolis College helps advance Minnesota’s economy and workforce. 

Support the College

2025 Minnesota State Legislative Request

$465 Million in New Funding Over the Biennium

$40 MILLION to directly support students’ critical needs

$32.5 Million: Expand student support services
Funding provided directly to campuses for staffing to connect students to essential resources like basic needs support, Mantra Health mental health resources, and other campus-based student resources.

$5.5 Million: Emergency grants 
Funding for student emergency grants is essential as students fit their educational goals within the broader complexities of their lives. This request would add $2.75 million per year to the $2.25 million per year currently available through the Office of Higher Education to address unforeseen student needs.

$2 Million: Textbooks 
This initiative would continue current funding levels for the development of additional free course materials to make total costs for students more affordable.

$40 MILLION to address the growth and advancement of Minnesota’s workforce

$13.5 Million: Upgrade college and university equipment and learning environments 
Continue the work of enhancing state-of-the-art equipment and learning environments for high-cost, high-need workforce programs.

$4.5 Million: Increase workforce development scholarships 
Expand the Workforce Development Scholarship programs, which would increase the base by $2.25 million (50 percent) per year and broaden the types of programs for which the scholarships can be used.

$8.5 Million: Support high cost and high demand programs 
Support the maintenance of high-cost and high-demand career and technical, baccalaureate, and graduate programs.

$13.5 Million: Develop and expand industry sector programming 
Continue the work of developing and expanding industry sector programming to build capacity and support new.

$285 MILLION to maintain academic programs and keep tuition affordable 

This request would provide stable state funding to campuses to allow for an overall 5 percent increase in costs each year. The funding would move the system closer to the statutory goal of 67 percent of funding coming from the state and 33 percent of funding coming from students through tuition. Focused tuition flexibility would be provided if this request is fully funded.

$100 MILLION in one-time funding to address the most urgent needs in critical infrastructure

$50 Million: Asset preservation
Critical building components have deteriorated faster than the limited funding made available through the HEAPR program. The funding would be allocated towards roofs, HVAC and other health, life and safety systems that protect our students and strengthen communities.

$25 Million: Building demolition and site repurposing
Buildings that can no longer be used are a hazard that drain resources and deter recruiting. Building demolition is not a cost that can be supported with state bond proceeds. Funds would reduce operation and maintenance costs and create safe green space to better connect students and community to the campus.

$25 Million: Development of the new Workday student planning system
The Workday student system, part of the broader NextGen Enterprise Resource Planning system, will manage student enrollment, finances, and work services while streamlining administrative processes system-wide. This student planning system will be significantly more intuitive and user-friendly than what is available to students currently, providing them with a fully integrated, online digital experience.

2024 Legislative Session Results

Minnesota State requested \$541.4 million for infrastructure projects, which included \$200 million for the Board of Trustees number one priority of asset preservation (HEAPR) and \$341.4 million for 15 major campus-specific capital projects.

Although the governor proposed \$113.6 million for Minnesota State, which included \$82 million for HEAPR, the House and Senate were not able to garner the majority vote needed to pass their bond proposal.

Higher education bill Chapter 124 was passed this session. 

Policy:

  • Requiring that criminal records not be considered in admissions; as well as providing immunity from civil liability for any institution that admits a student with a criminal history or that admits a student without conducting a criminal background check.
  • Requiring that access to transcripts not be withheld due to debt; as compared with the 2021 law, the bill increases the threshold for debts from \$250 to \$1,000 and adds a prohibition on denying transcripts to incarcerated persons.
  • Revising the campus sexual misconduct policy: M.S.135A.15.
  • Requiring postsecondary institutions to designate an employee as a “navigator” to assist parenting students.
  • Creating protections for pregnant and parenting students.
  • Revising policies and requirements for accommodating students with disabilities.
  • Creating regulations for online program management companies doing business in Minnesota.
  • Clarifying eligibility details for the North Star Promise scholarship program. 
  • Increasing the amount of revenue bonds the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority may issue; the Legislature created the Higher Education Facilities Authority in 1971 to provide nonprofit private postsecondary institutions with conduit financing for large-scale capital projects.
  • Altering payment provisions for the Student Educational Loan Fund program.
  • Establishing fees for institutions that require multiple revisions and corrections on their applications for state licensure.
  • Establishing several requirements for the licensure of private career schools, including having a physical presence within the state.
  • Adding “energy” as an eligible field in the Workforce Development Scholarships program.
  • Requesting that the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum provide free unlimited access to disabled veterans.

Finance:

  • \$500,000 in one-time funds to Minnesota State for a “Kids on Campus” partnership with Head Start for childcare and early learning centers on college campuses.
  • Re-appropriating funds within the allocated budget of \$20 million in research grants designed to develop treatment and a possible cure for ALS.
  • Transferring \$5 million from the North Star Promise Scholarship program to the Fostering Independence Grant program to help with the shortfall in the FIG program.
  • Amending a previous appropriation for programs at the University of Minnesota Medical School on the CentraCare Health System campus in St. Cloud by modifying the uses for which the funds may be spent.