NEWS | February 2009

Each month NEWS delivers stories about our colleges and higher education research, trends and policies Read full articles on one page or go to the NEWS archive
	College presidents make case for preserving state's financial aid Presidents from our 17 institutions have been at the Capitol this month to assure legislators of the broad value that the State Grant program represents. They testified at a House committee hearing and had briefings with legislative leaders and governor’s staff. Read full article

	State earns high return on its investment in private colleges Return on investment is high at Minnesota’s Private Colleges. Our 17 institutions receive two percent of the budget, yet they award nearly one-third of the state’s bachelor’s degrees. Read full article

	Online course offerings provide flexibility for busy students Designing a course to be delivered online is quite different than face-to-face classes, and professors at several of Minnesota's Private Colleges are learning what works best. For some students, the online option makes college possible. Read full article

	Briefs "The Facts 2009" includes the latest facts and figures about our 17 colleges and universities. View all facts online or download or order the printed version. Read the the American Council on Education's summary of what the economic stimulus plan means for higher education. In the report Minnesota’s Future: World-Class Schools, World-Class Jobs, the Itasca Project and the Minnesota Business Partnership set out to answer how Minnesota’s education system compares with the best in the world and what we can learn from them to deliver a better education to Minnesota students. Enrollment Patterns of Students from Low-Income Families, from the Minnesota Office of Higher Education, includes a summary of initiatives by Minnesota's Private Colleges (p. 36 of the PDF). The Thinking College Early Fair is on Sat., Feb. 28 at Harding Senior High School in St. Paul. Parents and students in grades 6-12 can learn how to prepare for and apply to college.