Minnesota State officials approve largest tuition hikes in nearly two decades, ranging from 4% to 8%

Minnesota State officials approved Wednesday the heftiest tuition increase in nearly two decades, with increases ranging from 4% to 8% across the 33 schools in the state’s largest higher education system.

The 8-5 vote came after the Board of Trustees outlined “tremendous uncertainty” facing higher education in Minnesota. Dissenters wanted a higher tuition increase to reduce the $52 million budget gap.

“None of us are happy to be in this position,” said Trustee Jay Cowles, who approved the tuition hike. “There’s no amount of tuition increase that’s going to prevent a significant loss of headcount [of employees] in the coming year.”

Students at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and Inver Hills Community College will see the highest tuition hikes of 8% due to special situations at those campuses — Mankato is changing how students are charged for credits and Inver Hills is merging with Dakota County Technical College.

“I’ve definitely been nervous about the tuition increases,” said Sarah Oberstar, a Minnesota State, Mankato student. “I’ve actually considered picking up a third job just to keep up with costs.”

The last time tuition at Minnesota State averaged more than 5.5% was in 2007, when colleges saw a 6.9% increase and universities saw an 8.4% jump.

“This budget was one of the most difficult ones that we’ve had in years,” said Bill Maki, vice chancellor of finance and facilities at Minnesota State. “There’s so much uncertainty right now both at the federal level as well as the economic conditions currently and into the future.”

Before the Board of Trustees voted on Wednesday, with one member abstaining from the vote, Chancellor Scott Olson said the coming years may be just as hard as this one. Minnesota State passed a $2.5 billion budget that included $879 million in state funding, which is about $45 million less than last year due to one-time funding for operations and tuition relief from the Legislature in 2025, Maki said.

That left a $52 million budget gap, meaning each of the 33 institutions will have to make cuts, which aren’t yet finalized at all campuses. That will include hiring freezes, leaving positions vacant, freezing or reducing non-personnel budgets, incentives to get employees to leave jobs early, delaying facility and technology investments and using the fund balance to make up the difference, Maki said.

Mankato, for instance, has already made significant cuts to its academic programs this year.

Mankato student Cole Koets, 22, said he’ll be working this summer at a warehouse, partly to help pay for the tuition increase, which comes as the cost of living keeps increasing.

“The idea of raising tuition at this point, at this crossroads in American history, is ill-advised and insulting to the students who have enriched our institutions already,” said Koets of Watertown, Minn.

Federal uncertainty related to financial aid and fewer international students also contributed to challenges in creating a budget this year, Maki said, adding that both issues could contribute to changes in enrollment.

Maki noted that Minnesota State’s tuition increases since 2014 have been lower — 1.3% on average at colleges and 2.1% at universities — than the Consumer Price Index.

But Wednesday, Carrie Brimhall, president of Minnesota State Community and Technical College, said it was “troubling how many of us” are using their fund balance to balance the budget this year.

Ken Janz, president of Winona State University, added that he’s concerned with keeping tuition comparable to schools nearby in Wisconsin. “I still think we’re in the ballpark ... [of] our major competition across the river.”

As part of Minnesota State’s annual budget process, officials discuss several proposed budget scenarios with the student government at each institution and student government leaders can write a letter taking a position on the budget.

Out of 33 campuses, 13 student governments indicated that they endorsed the tuition hikes, according to trustees. Student leadership at Minneapolis College said a forecasted increase of 4% “should be higher” and suggesting a 7% bump instead.

Four student governments, meanwhile, opposed the increases or expressed significant concerns. A letter from student leaders at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, for instance, said the tuition increases, which were estimated to be 7% at the time, would be “seriously detrimental.”

Most of the remaining student governments said they had been consulted on the matter or understood the rationale for tuition hikes, but didn’t have a formal position.

Before Wednesday’s vote, some trustees said they doubted that letters from student government leaders were representative of how most students felt.

“There’s a lot of silent voices out there,” said Trustee Cheryl Tefer, who approved the tuition increase as proposed but didn’t want to go any higher due to worries it would burden students balancing school, work and families.

Tuition and fees throughout the system will now range from $5,887 at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, which also has a Cambridge campus, to $11,056 at Minnesota State University, Moorhead.

At the seven campuses that offer campus housing, room and board increases range from 2.2% to 7.4% for 2026.

Jameel Haque, a professor of history at Minnesota State, Mankato, criticized the “short-sightedness” of state politicians and administrators that led to the budget gap. But Haque said he believes the tuition hikes are needed to stave off a cycle of faculty cuts and declining enrollment.

“It’s a trade-off,” said Haque, director of the school’s Kessel Peace Institute. “Do you want major cuts in personnel, so you would lose faculty and staff, or do we get a tuition increase ... It’s a difficult situation and this tuition increase seems like it’s possibly, unfortunately necessary.”