In the fall of 2024, Minnesota announced that its state grant program was $210 million short – almost half of the state grant’s total amount. This shortfall will affect around 67,000 Minnesota students in the upcoming 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years.
The Minnesota State Grant supports 39% of Minnesota students who attend college in the state, most of whom are from low and middle-income families. Last year, over 500 Oles — or 17% of the school’s population — were recipients of the MN State Grant. Until last June, around $3 million to $3.5 million of this grant money was awarded to St. Olaf students annually.
“We didn’t know there was a shortfall until June 26,” Director of Financial Aid at St. Olaf Steve Lindley said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. “This was one week before the fall bills were sent out and suddenly students were losing anywhere from $400 to $3,800.”
Thankfully, St. Olaf was quick to reallocate resources to get students the help they needed. “There wasn’t any hesitation to make it up,” Lindley said.
Moving forward, the state has created the North Star Promise program, which will work to financially support students affected by this shortfall and attend Minnesota public and tribal colleges. The program does not, however, extend to private schools, such as St. Olaf.
“We are making contingency plans if the shortfall continues into future years,” Lindley said. “We are not putting any estimated MN State Grant funds on the financial aid offers for incoming students. We are just calling everything ‘Need-Based Grants.’”
These grants will be a combination of any grants a student receives, both from St. Olaf and the state. Most importantly, Lindley said, is “trying to make sure that students and families know about the shortfall so that they can be aware of the uncertainty around this funding.”
The state government has made efforts to conserve the amount of grant money spent, such as cutting off grant awards to students who complete their FAFSA after the deadline. “But most, about 99%, of Oles get theirs in on time, so that doesn’t really help us,” Lindley said.
Unfortunately, there are not many ways students themselves can counterbalance this shortfall, other than trying to save a little more money and talking to state legislators. Some administrators at St. Olaf, like Lindley, are reaching out in their communities to help bring about change.
“I have joined the MN Office of Higher Ed Financial Advisory Committee and become the MN Private College Sector Representative,” Lindley said, “so that I can make sure policymakers and stakeholders across the state are aware of this impact and work together to find better solutions for students in the future.”
