• establish tuition banding tuition on the Morris, Crookston and Duluth campuses;
• establish a scholarship program for Minnesota undergraduate resident students with family income under $150,000. The appropriation must be matched with $1.50 of non-state money of each $1 of state money;
• establish an India Center to improve and promote relations with India and Southeast Asia. State funds must be matched with an equal amount of non-state money;
• assist in the formation of a Minneapolis area neighborhood alliance;
• establish a Dakota language teacher training immersion program on the Twin Cities campus; and
• additional funding for the Agriculture State Special.

In addition, the U/Mayo partnership would receive $25 million in one-time funds and, beginning in 2010, recurring funding of $8 million per year.

The Governor vetoed the bill on May 9. In this remaining week of session (Monday the 21st is the last day of session), legislative leadership will establish a plan to pass all of the funding bills that have been vetoed. Most of the language that is in the current conference committee report will most likely be contained in new higher education legislation. Links to the full Conference Committee report and a fiscal spreadsheet can be found at the end of this update.

ACHIEVE
The Governor had proposed a new program called “ACHIEVE.� His program would award a grant up to $1000 to high school students, with family incomes of less than $70,000, who pass rigorous courses in high school. The Governor had proposed several million for the first year for planning and $21 million in the second year to fully implement the program. Both the House and the Senate rejected this proposal claiming that there are many school districts where high school students do not have access to rigorous courses. Rather they thought it would be more effective to increase access to rigorous courses in high schools by expanding existing programs to encourage high school students to attend college. The Governor’s staff indicated at the conference committee that this was an important program for the Governor and he wanted it included in the final bill to prevent a veto.

The conference committee report directs the University and MnSCU to increase the availability of rigorous courses and appropriates $1 million to each system. Rigorous courses are to be provided to high school students living in remote and underserved areas are where the school district lacks the resources to provide academically rigorous educational opportunities such as advanced placement and international baccalaureate programs. The courses may be delivered by a high school or postsecondary faculty member, online, or through distance education.

Dream Act
The Dream Act was not included in the final bill. Nor was the language that clarified that the University and MnSCU could use private funds to provide scholarships for undocumented students. The Governor had indicated that he would veto the bill if the Dream Act were included in the final bill. However, the bill does provide funding for MnSCU to eliminate nonresident undergraduate tuition at 6 of their 2- year campuses.

Higher Education on the Range
There is a request for a study of the student demand and employer needs for higher education in the Mesabi Range region of northeastern Minnesota including the cities of Grand Rapids through Eveleth to Ely. The MnSCU Board must contract for the study, which must be done in cooperation with the Board of Regents and the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools, which must act as the lead agency in coordinating the study.

State Grant Program Study
The Office of Higher Education must conduct an analysis and evaluation of the state grant program to provide information concerning the role of the program to promote affordable access to higher education. It will include such items as evaluation of the assigned student share, the assigned family contribution, analysis of the recognized cost of attendance compared to actual attendance, analysis of actual living and miscellaneous expenses of students. In addition they will assess the feasibility of expanding the eligibility for state grants to include graduate and first professional students.

In another mandated study, the OHE will examine existing financial aid programs that provide loans and grants to students and how they link to the needs of the workforce.

Personal Financial Management and Credit Cards
The University is requested to proved information on personal financial management to students.

Postsecondary institutions are prohibited from selling or transferring any undergraduate student data without the student’s consent or from entering into any agreement to market credit cards to undergraduate students. This does not apply to existing agreements.

Textbook Pricing
Publishers who sell or distribute course material for classroom use are required to make certain information available to faculty and bookstores. The MnSCU bookstores and faculty have certain obligations and mandates; however the University is requested to comply. The high cost of textbooks has been an issue of concern for legislators. They will certainly follow this issue in future legislative sessions.

Regent Selection
The Regent Candidate Advisory Council was retained; however the role of the Governor has been removed. Rather the RCAC will make their recommendations directly to a joint committee of the House and Senate Higher Education committees. The joint committee will meet twice; the first meeting will be for the purpose of interviewing the candidates and the second meeting for the purpose of voting for candidates to recommend to the joint convention.

Athletic Contract Buyouts
No state dollars can be used for the costs related to the early termination of a contract of a coach.

Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment
On Tuesday, May 8, the governor signed the Omnibus Energy and Natural Resources finance bill that contains provisions to continue funding for IREE. The sources include funding in FY08 and 09 from Xcel Energy's Conservation Improvement Program, and funding from the Xcel’s Renewable Development Fund for FY09, FY10, FY11 and beyond.

View the committee report or the spreadsheet.