Tuition fee hike of 3 percent approved at Minnesota State
The Minnesota State college and university system on Wednesday approved a 3 percent tuition fee increase for the 2019-20 academic year.
The Minnesota State Board of Trustees passed the $2.1 billion budget package that will see the cost of attending one of the system's 37 universities and community colleges go up after several years of tuition freezes.
It will see the annual tuition for a college degree rise by $144 to $4,960, while for a university degree it will rise by $231 to $7,518.
It comes as Minnesota State is looking ahead to another year of declining enrollment that means it will likely make less revenue despite the increase in tuition fees.
A report prepared for the Board of Trustees notes that the organization had requested $246 million in new funding from the Minnesota Legislature this past session, but only received $81 million of that request.
Colleges and universities will be charged with continuing to reduce its costs to take into account the enrollment decline.
"The state funding and tuition revenue will help support inflationary cost increases at both colleges and universities," the report said.
"Colleges and universities will continue to reallocate and reduce expenditures in their on-going efforts to adjust to lower enrollment and to offset the structural funding issues the system will face in fiscal year 2021, and to make needed strategic investment for student support."
The vote came on the same day that the University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved its own tuition fee increase of 2 percent.
Outgoing President Eric Kaler had proposed a fee hike of 2.5 percent for Twin Cities students, but the regents agreed to a lower hike at special board meeting on Wednesday.
It will see tuition go up by $260 a year for undergraduates starting at the Twin Cities campus, while those attending its satellite campuses in Crookston, Duluth, Morris and Rochester will see fees rise by 1.5 percent.
