LISTEN: MPR’s Alex Friedrich discusses the State Grant increase A proposed record boost in the state’s main post-secondary financial aid program is drawing criticism from student leaders at Minnesota state colleges and universities, who say they wouldn’t get their fair share of the increase. Gov. Mark Dayton is asking for an $80 million increase over Read more →
A while back I did a radio piece on how student leaders at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system campuses were saying the State Grant formula was unfair toward working part-time students. Above is a survey that the Minnesota State University Student Association (which represents those at four-year institutions) conducted of part-time students. The Read more →
Macalester College financial aid chief Brian Lindeman discusses in The New York Times how final a college’s financial aid offer is: “Most financial aid offices will not respond positively to simple requests for more aid. We generally won’t improve financial aid packages in response to a financial aid offer from another school. … Over the years, Read more →
“When I was an aide to then-Sen. Walter Mondale in 1975-1976, education was one of my areas of responsibility. And back then federal student financial aid was one-third grants, one-third loans and one-third college work-study. Now it’s 2 percent college work-study, 18 percent grants for the poorest student and 80 percent loans; which means for Read more →
Today I’ve got a report on MPR News on part-time students who say the State Grant penalizes them for holding down a job. How so? They’re not get getting state aid that’s in proportion to the number of credits they take. One part that didn’t make it into the piece was that it has been Read more →
Minnesota Office of Higher Education policy analyst Tricia Grimes has this recap in light of the sequestration-delaying agreement today on the Minnesota State University Student Association website. I think it’s kind of a what-did-we-just-delay piece: (The scheduled cuts) would likely include reductions in Federal SEOG Grants and Federal Work-Study. It would also increase student loan Read more →
I’m working on my own radio spots about the state Office of Higher Education report above. But for now feel free to read the original report (Ed. note: Problems uploading. Link to report is here.) And check out the office’s take on the data in its press release below: OHE REPORT INDICATES HOW MN STUDENTS Read more →
Here’s a lightly edited announcement from U.S. Senator Al Franken and colleagues on the universal financial aid form. (You can also hear this morning’s short Daily Circuit talk on the “shopping sheet” and college affordability.) Sens. Franken, Harkin, Grassley: Universal Financial Aid Form Needs to be Mandatory to Help Families Understand True Cost of College Read more →
The state Office of Higher Education released its annual report for the State Grant late yesterday afternoon. Here’s a copy, and I’m going through it, but I’ve also got a call in for some interpretation. Meanwhile, here’s what a spokeswoman for the office wrote: Page 9 shows that a significant portion of Independent, Not Married Read more →
In case you missed our coverage of the MPR Bright Ideas forum on how to get a good, affordable education, here’s the video (above) and the transcript (below). ***********FULL TRANSCRIPT*************** Stephen Smith: This is “Bright Ideas: Fresh Thoughts on Big Issues” from Minnesota Public Radio News. I’m Stephen Smith. Each month we invite a guest Read more →