Minnesotans favor public funding for student aid over institutions
How to best support the education of the next generation of college students is an important question for Minnesota, especially at this time of budget deficits and economic uncertainty. When asked in late 2008 to weigh the main options — institutional support and student aid — most Minnesotans favored student aid.
Minnesota currently invests 87 percent of its higher education spending on institutional subsidies for the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Meanwhile, about 11 percent of state spending goes to the State Grant Program, which gives need-based aid to more than one out of four college students. All State Grant recipients are from low- or middle-income families, with most attending public institutions.
The public preference for student aid has shown up in independently conducted polling, as undertaken on behalf of the Minnesota Private College Council by the University of Minnesota Center for Survey Research.
Data analysis by Minnesota Private College Research Foundation. 625 Total Respondents. Survey conducted and reported by University of Minnesota Center for Survey Research, Fall 2008
The survey results released this winter found that 56 percent of respondents said the Legislature should allocate more funds directly to students to help pay for higher education. Only 16 percent said more money should go directly to public institutions. The question was administered to 726 people in the fall of 2008 and had a +/- 3.4 percent sampling error.
Given that higher education funding decisions are made within a political environment, it is worth noting that perspectives are similar regardless of respondents’ political identification. For those who identified themselves as Democrats, 61 percent favored more money for students while only 17 percent thought more money should go to the systems. For Republicans, 50 percent thought we should give more to students versus 12 percent to institutions. Among independents, 60 percent favored more money for students and 15 percent to institutions (sampling error +/- 4.8 to 9.6).
The support is consistent with 2007 data, when 56 percent of respondents preferred student aid over institutional spending General support for student aid has been relatively constant over three surveys conducted in 2005, 2007 and 2008. The biggest change from 2007 to this year has been growth in support among Republicans.
Along with the public’s broad support for student-based aid, policy advocates from across the political spectrum are supportive as well.
- The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has identified the State Grant program as its top priority for higher education during the 2009 legislative session. It supports an increase in funding.
- “The key to ensuring a well-educated workforce is to encourage students to go to the college or university that best fits their needs — not just to fund state institutions that students may or may not want to attend,” said David Strom, president of the Minnesota Free Market Institute. “It's vital to ensure both access and excellence in higher education, and the best way to do that is to focus more on the students’ needs.”
- Research on financial aid awards, especially for low-income families and minorities, consistently shows positive effects on enrollment and persistence of students, according to Dane Smith, president of Growth & Justice. In its 2008 Smart Investments report (see Ready for Life, p. 17), Growth & Justice recommends an additional $115 million annual investment into the State Grant program.