Why MSU-Moorhead is closing its continuing studies department

Minnesota State University – Moorhead President Edna Szymanski tells The Advocate student paper why the university is phasing out its continuing studies department, which handles public-outreach programs:

“Right now, this university is supported 64 percent by your tuition; for that reason, I can’t continue anything that doesn’t either benefit you directly, or in someway, generate a profit that can be turned back to benefit you directly. … A lot of the programs started in 1996 as public outreach or for the good of the public, but the public isn’t paying the majority of the bill right now.”

Read the full article here.

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich

afriedrich@mpr.org

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.