The 2007-08 legislative session was marked by several achievements that moved Minnesota forward. Looking back, I'm confident one of the biggest accomplishments was the fight to make college more affordable for every Minnesota student.
Minnesota tuition began spiking in 2003 when the governor made $380 million in cuts to the University of Minnesota and to MnSCU (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities). After five years of crushing, double-digit tuition increases, the gap was closed with a 12.9 percent base funding increase last year.
However, a large cloud loomed entering the 2008 session because Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed $51 million in higher-education cuts for 2008-09 to close the state's budget deficit.
Deep cuts that extended steep tuition increases were not acceptable. In our final budget negotiations, we fought to ensure we wouldn't again balance the Minnesota state budget on the backs of students. We made a significantly smaller cut of $21.8 million, totaling less than half of what the governor had proposed. More important, we added language to the final bill to make sure the University of Minnesota and MnSCU couldn't push the burden of cuts onto students through higher tuition or reductions of services. Their cuts largely must be made in administration and non-student affected areas.
As a result of these efforts, MnSCU recently announced plans for its lowest tuition increases this decade. State community and technical colleges and state universities can expect a 2 percent and 3 percent increase next year. After five years of increases nearly five times that, this is a significant step forward for Minnesota colleges and universities.
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The University of Minnesota will set its tuition increases later this month, but due to legislative actions, it is not expected to increase tuition any more than originally planned.
We lawmakers also kept in place a scholarship program at the University of Minnesota, which was initiated in 2007 for lower- and middle-income students. The program helps to hold down tuition for those struggling the most to pay for school.
Along with reducing tuition increases, we made higher education the top priority of this session's bonding bill, investing nearly $400 million in higher-education projects across the state. Those projects emphasized technologies in emerging fields to keep Minnesota students on the cutting edge for years to come.
Unfortunately, the governor vetoed an important project for our area that would have provided $5 million to Mesabi Range Technical and Community College for industrial mechanical technology programs to train our next generation of miners. I look forward to talking with the governor about this project when he visits the area this month.
Given the national economic downturn and increasingly competitive global economy, the positive impacts from higher-education investments cannot be overstated. For years, Minnesota has enjoyed a national economic edge in large part because of its highly skilled and highly educated work force. But we have been slipping. Our recommitment to higher education means that thousands of Minnesota students will be able to afford college, tens of thousands will graduate with less debt, and countless more will attend Minnesota schools to capitalize on state-of-the-art institutions.
Minnesota's college students weren't the only big winners this year.
The long-term economic interests of our state won as well. By staying committed to providing students with the best opportunity to get the education they deserve, we are preparing them to become valuable members of a world-class Minnesota work force. And that keeps our state healthy and prosperous for years to come.
Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL- Virginia, is chairman of the House of Representatives Higher Education and Work Force Development Committee.
