Other elements from the new higher education bill
I haven't gotten word that the full bill is out yet, so I'm working off my notes for the time being.
This list is not all-inclusive, so please take this as a preliminary look, because things went pretty quickly last night.
First, here are the fiscal highlights -- who got cut.
State Grant: It would get an increase of 7.3 percent. Although that wouldn't quite fully fund it, the grant would be much better off than it would have been under the Senate's (2.6 percent increase) and governor's appropriation (none). Office of Higher Education analyst Tricia Grimes told me the state would still have to ration the grant, but didn't know yet how much the grant would be cut back. I'm hoping to know the average size soon.
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Anti-cloning amendment: The House version is included, which would not allow state funds or federal funds funneled through the state to be used to support "human cloning" or pay for related expenses.
Credit transfers: The legislature has backed off from forcing each MnSCU school to accept all transfer credits from any other MnSCU school. It now requires MnsCU to provide progress reports and numbers of transfers, as well study successful transfer systems in other states.
Performance goals: The state would withhold 1 percent of funding for MnSCU and the University of Minnesota if they didn't make certain goals in areas such as graduation rates, diversity, online-course participation, research and energy use.
For-profit grad schools: The state would study how for-profits carry out their graduate education programs for Minnesota students, examining students' rights and responsibilities.
Central office: Cuts to MnSCU headquarters must not be pushed off onto campuses.
Senior citizens: Sets the eligibility age at 62.
Still trying to figure out the status of the chancellor's salary caps and study of MnSCU efficiency and senior citizen program, among others. I don't think they made it through, but I'll have to check.