When Governor Walz announced his budget last month, it was disappointing to see how little support for higher education was included. As Julia Yates said in a Minnpost Community Voices piece,
"At a time when we need to combat these challenges, Gov. Tim Walz is investing more money into a broken system called High Tuition – High Aid. The governor’s budget is going to lead to significant tuition increases for students attending Minnesota public colleges and universities, while the financial aid increases will not keep pace with tuition hikes."
Last week the governor visited St Cloud Technical and Community College, and M State – Moorhead, where students raised this issue directly. Following those visits, Governor Walz indicated that we can expect to see something different in budget revisions, vaguely implying that the budget might be updated in ways that better support students at Minnesota’s public colleges and universities:
"Walz said during the forum at the technical college to expect some adjustments in the revised budget when it comes out in a few weeks, because of the conversations had along the tour. 'I think you'll see changes, especially in higher education, because of what we're hearing,' he said" - SC Times, Walz, Flanagan hear St. Cloud students, teachers on education budget.
The governor has shown that he wants to hear from Minnesotans, and may be willing to change his positions based on constituents, which makes it all the more important that we keep speaking up. On Thursday, April 4, we’ll visit the capitol to have conversations with legislators about the need for better higher education funding. Join us for a full or half day to push this change. In the meantime, send a letter to your representatives.
Contact Molly Budke at mbudke@leadmn.org with any questions or concerns.