University of Minnesota considers nonresident tuition hike

Regents at the University of Minnesota are considering a sharp increase in tuition for nonresidents who don't come from states with reciprocity agreements.

An outline presented to board Friday would boost nonresident tuition by $3,200 annually over the next four years. That would raise the cost to $35,000 in 2020-21, putting it near the midpoint in the Big Ten. Resident tuition is already near the conference average. Current students wouldn't be affected.

While the regents won't vote on it until June, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports most agree the university has become too good of a deal for nonresidents.

The university slashed nonresident tuition in 2008, attracting students from far-flung states at the expense of those from Wisconsin and the Dakotas, who pay about the same as Minnesotans.