On Campus Blog

What the Dream Act would cost the UMN and MnSCU

MN Senate Fiscal Note for Dream Act - S0723_1E

When I posted a while back about the cost of the Minnesota Dream Act -- About half a million dollars a year in State Grant funding -- I neglected to include a couple of additional costs.

It's estimated that the University of Minnesota would take a hit of about $175,000 a year by charging the students instate tuition instead of the higher out-of-state tuition. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system -- a majority of whose campuses already charge a flat rate regardless of residency -- would absorb an additional cost of $1.5 million a year.

My understanding is that both systems have signed off on the fiscal note above, indicating they could absorb the hit.

Meredith Fergus, analyst at the state Office of Higher Education, has said the State Grant program could absorb its share of the cost fairly easily.