Minnesota State to Divert Millions to 4-Year Institutions

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system’s Board of Trustees approved a proposal Wednesday to transfer up to $25 million a year for the next four years from system institutions to two struggling four-year universities, MinnPost reported.

In fiscal year 2028, St. Cloud State University will receive an additional $10 million in funding and Bemidji State University will receive $4.8 million, according to the proposal. Most of the added funding will come from peer institutions, particularly community and technical colleges, though the other four-years will also contribute; Minnesota State University–Mankato will be required to give $1.8 million—the most of any system institution. The Minnesota State system includes 26 colleges and seven universities. 

The cash injections will help shore up finances at both St. Cloud State and Bemidji State, which are facing declining enrollments and have already eliminated programs and employee positions and taken other cost-cutting measures. St. Cloud State in particular has reduced its workforce by 40 percent over 15 years, suspended admission to nearly 200 academic majors and taken out a $2 million loan from the system, MinnPost reported. 

During Wednesday’s board meeting, Michael Berndt, president of Dakota County Technical College and Inver Hills Community College in the Twin Cities suburbs, said his institutions are facing their own budget concerns. The two colleges will be required to give a combined $747,533 to St. Cloud State and Bemidji State in the first year, according to the proposal. 

“It’s frankly demoralizing to our employees to see the outcome of our work significantly reduced by seeing our allocation dollars reduced,” Berndt said at the meeting.

The proposal is meant to be short term, trustees said during the meeting. To right the ship, system officials are considering closing or merging campuses, consolidating IT and other services, reducing excess buildings, and redesigning the formula that distributes funding to its institutions, according to MinnPost.