Action needed now to sustain economy and expand numbers of future college grads
With the nation’s financial challenges in plain view, now is the time to strategically think about our future. Students are going to need increased assistance to afford college. At the same time, the state will soon be facing a projected shortfall of college graduates. Minnesota’s private colleges and universities call on policymakers to act now to help more students earn college degrees — and safeguard our future economic health.
The Minnesota Private College Council (MPCC) has released a $170 million education agenda that aims to put more students on a path to college success with two key investments.
- Keep college affordable for low- and middle-income students — no matter what kind of college they choose, public or private, two-year or four-year — by expanding Minnesota’s need-based State Grant program.
- Prepare more students who are least likely to go to college to do just that by expanding federally funded TRiO access programs that offer training, coaching and mentoring.
Investing in these proven programs is the most efficient way for the state to make college more accessible and affordable.
“In difficult financial times, Minnesota must prioritize spending that is going to have the greatest impact. That’s why we need to target state investments for low- and middle-income students and rely on programs with strong track records,” said Mark Chronister, chair of the MPCC Policy Committee.
“Expanding the number of students who are prepared to and can afford to go to college is critical for Minnesota,” said Pamela Jolicoeur, president, Concordia College and chair of the MPCC board. “The forecast for the next decade is that we will not have enough new college-educated workers to replace retiring Baby Boomers and support economic expansion.”
Keeping college affordable
To keep college affordable for low- and middle-income students, this agenda asks policymakers to recommit to need-based aid through the State Grant program. This program helps about 80,000 Minnesota college students, directly reducing the amount of loans they need to take out to finance their educations. Most students who receive this aid choose to attend one of the state's public colleges and universities; only 12 percent attend one of the private, non-profit institutions that are MPCC members.
Unfortunately, in recent years the impact of both state and federal need-based aid has been shrinking. These programs now account for a smaller share of Minnesota students’ financial aid. Meanwhile, students have relied increasingly on grants from institutions and student loans. (MPCC institutions alone provide more than $270 million in financial aid support for their students.)
"Increasing need-based aid for college students is the most efficient and effective way to help keep college affordable and the most direct way to target limited state dollars to students with established need," said David B. Laird Jr., MPCC president.
With a $150 million recommendation for additional spending on need-based aid over the next biennium, this is the largest portion of the suggested new spending in the MPCC agenda.
Clearing a path to college
Over the next decade, 60 percent of high school graduates in the state will come from families where neither parent has a college education. Given the workforce shortage the state will face, we need to remove the barriers to students making the transition from high school to college. And, we need to target resources to make that transition happen successfully.
We urge state policymakers to invest $20 million to support proven access programs such as the federally-funded TRiO programs. These programs have a strong record of success not only in Minnesota, but across the country, in helping low-income and first-generation students move from high school to college.
Since current federal funding limits services to 10 percent of the state’s TRiO-eligible students, this investment would help thousands more students get on the path to college. There are TRiO programs across the state, based out of 31 institutions, both public and private.
“This agenda puts the state's needs front and center,” Jolicoeur said. “Without increased state effort, the number of four-year college graduates is forecast to fall 12 percent between 2004 and 2017. Meanwhile, our economy will require twice as many college graduates. Now is the time for Minnesota to act on an education agenda that will sustain our economy in the years ahead.”