What’s New
The University of Minnesota approved a $5.1-billion budget on Wednesday that includes cuts of 7 percent to programs and up to a 7.5-percent increase in tuition for some students in the 2026 fiscal year.
The system, which has five campuses across the state, has sought to strike a balance rather than chiefly emphasizing uncertainty and financial risk. In addition to announcing cuts, it is touting faculty raises and investments in student aid. While some faculty members are grateful that money is being directed to pay increases, others are frustrated the losses aren’t coming out of the administration’s pockets instead.
“We can all agree there are no easy choices here,” the system’s president, Rebecca Cunningham, said at the board meeting where the budget was approved. Three of the 12 regents voted no on the budget, generally citing concerns over its impact on students.
Administrators argue that the drastic measures — which include some of the highest tuition hikes across higher ed in recent years — are necessary to counter stagnant state support and cuts to federal research funding.
The Details
Minnesota’s state appropriation is expected to remain flat this year, which, once inflation is calculated, amounts to a 3.5-percent decrease in available funding. The cancellation by the Trump administration of more than $40 million in federal research funding is part of a $115-million loss of revenue that the system must account for, its leaders wrote in an op-ed on Friday.
The program cuts will save $92.1 million in expenses, and the tuition hikes will bring in an additional $71.8 million, they wrote.
The tuition increases vary between 4 and 7.5 percent across the five campuses. In-state undergraduate and graduate students at the flagship Twin Cities campus will see a 6.5-percent rise in tuition, while out-of-state students will see an increase of 7.5 percent. In-state tuition will still be 3 percent lower, relative to the rate of inflation, than it was ten years ago, Cunningham said.
Deans, chancellors, and department chairs are in charge of deciding where the budget cuts will come from. That process started last October, and proposals for cuts were submitted to the administration in January, Cunningham said.
Cunningham acknowledged that some “cherished” programs would be reduced or lost entirely. Over 350 positions across the university would be eliminated under the current proposals, according to the budget.
“Across the board, it’s going to be hard and people will be impacted,” said Jennifer Goodnough, an associate professor of chemistry at the Morris campus and chair of Minnesota’s Faculty Consultative Committee.
The extent of that impact will vary from program to program. While Goodnough expects the chemistry department to emerge from the cuts unscathed, leaders of the College of Liberal Arts are staring down an $11-million cut, MPR News reported.
Some faculty members think the administration should reduce its own size before cutting academic programs. They’ve criticized the university, which was held up more than a decade ago as a poster child for administrative bloat, for allotting millions in next year’s budget for “strategic initiatives” and hiring its 12th vice president, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Cunningham pushed back on claims of bloat on Wednesday, saying the investment will provide “invaluable support” for students by funding its strategic plan. The size of Minnesota’s administration is comparable to peer institutions, she added.
Others, like Goodnough, emphasized the upsides for employees in the budget, like 3-percent merit-based pay increases. Last week, the Faculty Consultative Committee sent a letter to regents praising the budget’s “investments in the University’s workforce.”
The Backdrop
The tuition hike is on the “high end” of what has been typically seen across higher education in the past few years, said Robert Kelchen, a professor and head of the department of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. It’s Minnesota’s biggest increase since the Great Recession.
As state funding declines and the Trump administration continues to cancel billions of dollars of research grants, many colleges are being forced to make difficult budget decisions. Minnesota was among several colleges that discussed or approved substantial budget cuts and tuition hikes in recent weeks; others have included Michigan State University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Nebraska.
“To the extent that universities can increase tuition, they’re doing so,” Kelchen said.
Minnesota’s hike is greater than what’s been seen in many other states, Kelchen said, since it has more leeway with the legislature to raise rates. Plus, its flagship Twin Cities campus, which will see the highest tuition hikes, has market power to cope with the increases.
What to Watch For
Kelchen said he doesn’t think the budget decisions will necessarily backfire when it comes to student enrollment and state support, assuming it’s “a one-time increase due to unusual circumstances and they’ve communicated it with politicians.”
Lawmakers would likely push back should Minnesota continue to substantially hike tuition without explanation, he said.
