Higher Education Appropriation Bill Summary
Appropriations
The University of Minnesota received an increase of $105,635,000 over the base for the 2006—2007 biennium. We had requested $126 million. These new funds are recurring, which will set our base entering the next biennium at $1.229 billion.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities received an increase of $107,500,000 over their base for the biennium. Much of this appropriation is in one-time funds. MnSCU’s base entering the next biennium will be $1.204 billion.
The enrollment adjustment has been eliminated.
Regent Candidate Selection
The Regent Candidate Advisory Council will now make their recommendations to the Governor rather than the legislature. These recommendations will be due January 15 of each odd-numbered year. By the following February 15 the Governor must submit to a joint committee established in this legislation a slate of Regent nominations of one nominee for each vacancy. The new joint committee will have 20 legislative members, 10 from the House and 10 from the Senate with an equal number of members from the majority and minority of each body. By February 28 the joint committee shall meet to consider the slate of Governor’s nominees; the committee can only forward the Governor’s nominees for Regent for possible presentation to a joint convention of the legislature (all 201 members). If the joint committee does not recommend a Governor’s nominee, the Governor must submit a different nominee for the same vacancy. Although the legislation prohibits the joint committee from forwarding any names other than the Governor’s nominees, the legislation does not prohibit the joint convention of the legislature (the full body) from considering other names.
Rochester
$3.2 million was appropriated to HESO for the Rochester Higher Education Development Account ($200,000 for planning activities and $3 million for additional planning and development funds, initial funding for academic program development and funding for academic facilities).
An 11-member committee, the Rochester Higher Education Development Committee, is established that includes a U of M Regent or their designee, a MnSCU trustee or their designee, 6 people from the Rochester area, the commissioner of finance, one person with experience in postsecondary academic planning and programming, and one person with experience in postsecondary finance and planning. Some of the duties of the committee are: to develop a proposal for the establishment and implementation of expanded higher education programs or institutions in Rochester including addressing mission and focus of the programs, nature of the programs to be offered, site and facility needs, and funding sources and opportunities. The committee must also specifically address where expansion of the University of Minnesota in Rochester is the most appropriate method of meeting the region’s needs. The report is due on Jan. 15, 2006.
Financial Aid
The 4-year tuition cap is raised from $8,983 to $9,208 the first year and
to $9,438 the second year. This is enough to keep the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses under the cap for both FY06 and FY07. Morris will be over the cap in both FY06 and FY07; this was expected and funds have been budgeted to protect affected Morris students.
The 2-year cap is reduced from $6,913 to $6,567 the first year and to
$6,436 the second year. HESO is also directed to study 2-year proprietary institutions.
The Living and Miscellaneous Expense allowance is increased from
$5,205 to $5,350 for both years. This will result in grant amounts that are
about $75 higher for the lowest income students.
Total funding of the state grant program is sufficient to recognize the University's proposed tuition increases.
Funding for the state work study program is unchanged at $12,444,000 for
each year of the biennium and funding for the child care grant program is
unchanged at $4,743,000 for each year if the biennium.
Deaf Students
A deaf student who is a resident is entitled to tuition assistance for the tuition and fees remaining after deducting any federal or state grants or other public or private grants.
Applied Doctoral Degrees
State universities may offer applied doctoral degrees in education, business, psychology, physical therapy, audiology, and nursing.
HESO Mandates
The Higher Education Services Office (HESO) must develop and implement a process to measure and report on the effectiveness of postsecondary institutions in the state. A report to the legislature regarding the implementation of the process is due by January 15, 2006.
HESO must study the for-profit postsecondary education sector licensed or registered in Minnesota. They will study such things as tuition, program offerings, student debt load, and financial assistance.
HESO must consider developing data collection procedures and agreements to monitor the extent to which students who attend Minnesota postsecondary institutions under reciprocity agreements are employed in Minnesota after graduation.
HESO must commence negotiations with Wisconsin on the tuition reciprocity agreement that include the issue of disparity between the tuition paid by Wisconsin residents and Minnesota residents at campuses of the University of Minnesota with a goal of reducing or eliminating the disparity. Although the legislature does not mandate the reciprocity agreement it is assumed that this language will help HESO achieve a better outcome in their negations with Wisconsin.
HESO will convene an advisory task force to study and make recommendations on the current postsecondary funding policy. The CFO of the University or designee is a member. The recommendations will be submitted to the legislature by Jan. 15, 2006.
HESO will convene a group including representation from the University of Minnesota, MnSCU, the private education sector and Minnesota State Services for the Blind to develop a network to make available postsecondary instructional material in an electronic format or to identify other solutions, such as a national system, to address the specialized needs of postsecondary students with disabilities.
Capital Bonding Bill Summary
In the University’s updated 2004 capital request, all projects were fully funded with the exception of HEAPR, which was funded at $40 million vs. the $90 million requested. The fully-funded projects in the University request are: Life Science (Duluth), Kolthoff Hall, Education Sciences (MRRC), AHC Education Projects, Recreational Sports Addition (Duluth), and District Heating/Utilities & Shared Football (Morris). The legislature also provided funding for the Farm Shop Maintenance Facility (Grand Rapids), Agricultural Water Management Projects (statewide), the University/Mayo Partnership (Rochester), and the Plant Pathology Research Facility at the University of Minnesota. The bill provides$134 million in state funding for capital projects; adding the University’s debt obligation of $35.9 , the total for capital projects was $169.9 million.
Pending Legislation Affecting the University
The University of Minnesota had legislation introduced that became part of the Omnibus Pension Bill that failed to pass the House before adjournment. This legislation would have excluded the U of M Police Chief from participation in the PERA Police and Fire Pension Fund, since this position is required under Board of Regents policy to be a P and A pension participant. Earlier in the session, the Minnesota Senate had passed the Senate bill by a vote of 56-1.
The Governor’s request for $15 million in funding for the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics is included in the on-going negotiations on the Omnibus Jobs, Environment and Agriculture Bill. Both sides have agreed to fund the partnership at the Governor’s level, however other issues were left unresolved and the conference committee did not complete their work prior to adjournment.
The Omnibus Environment Finance bill contains a provision to devote 20 percent of new permanent university funds (PUF) to the Department of Natural Resources, for the management of the minerals lands. PUF funds are currently used for scholarships and minerals research through NRRI.
Governor Pawlenty has proposed an increase in the cigarette fee of $0.75 per pack to generate additional revenue for the state. The Academic Health Center receives funds through a dedicated portion of the state’s cigarette tax. Cigarette sales are predicated to fall off with the increased cost but the Governor has stated that he intends to keep the AHC funding whole.
The Gopher football stadium legislation was had hearings prior to the close of session but did not make it to the House and Senate floors for voting. This legislation could be heard during the special session.