By Ezequiel Jimenez, Program Intern and Alessandra Cipriani-Detres, Program Associate
Reading time: Six minutes
As states seek answers to decreasing college enrollments within their public institutions, Minnesota
is providing a blueprint for states to follow to try to reverse the trend. For the first time in 10 years, the state has introduced significant reforms to make a postsecondary education more affordable for its residents. These reforms include direct admissions, free college for
students from families that earn less than $80,000, and universal FAFSA bill in the works. As state leaders look to find best policy practices to advance equitable postsecondary access, the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) hopes to uplift
state policies and models like Minnesota’s that can inform and be replicated throughout the country.
Direct Admissions
Direct Admissions Minnesota informs high school seniors and their parents or guardians of the colleges
to which they have received conditional admission based on their academic records through their junior year and projected graduation date. Students then
submit free admissions applications for the colleges at which they are interested in attending. The program eliminates the lingering question of “will I get in?” by reminding every student that they are “college material.” What started as a small pilot program in the 2022-23 academic year has flourished into a program that now involves
partnerships between 120 high schools and over 50 colleges and universities.
How was it created?
To implement the program, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) created a K-12 and a Postsecondary Working Group which helped curate partnerships between high schools and in-state public, private, Tribal, two-year, and four-year colleges and universities by identifying target student populations, measures of success, and integrating
the Direct Admissions program with existing college preparation activities and admissions processes.
The program asks high schools to complete a Direct Admissions High School Interest Form to notify the OHE of their interest and to then assess their school’s ability to participate. This allows high schools the option to delay their participation until
the following year if needed.
On the postsecondary side, the OHE invited public and private non-profit colleges to participate and required them to complete six tasks including waiving all Direct Admissions’ students’ application fees and providing students with information about completing the institution’s application in a timely manner.
Creating strong connections between high schools and postsecondary institutions is something states have been trying to nail down for years. Direct admissions programs like Minnesota’s are great examples of how to bridge two systems that should, yet too
often do not, work together.
North Star Promise Program
The North Star Promise (NSP) Scholarship Program, will cover tuition for students from families
that earn less than $80,000 per year. The program is set to begin in the fall of 2024 and continues Minnesota’s desire to create more pathways for eligible state residents to access in-state higher education institutions. The NSP Scholarship Program
is a last-dollar program, meaning the scholarship will cover the remaining balance of tuition after all other scholarships and grants are applied. The program makes it easy for students to access financial aid since students who complete the FAFSA
or Minnesota Dream Act (Minnesota’s application for undocumented students to access state financial aid) will automatically be considered for the NSP Scholarship.
Where does funding come from?
Funding for the NSP Scholarship Program comes in the form of an appropriation, pulling from Minnesota’s general fund as noted in HF 2073, a bill passed in the state legislature in 2023 to address declining enrollment across state higher education institutions. While the bill was met with large waves of support in the legislature, it faced criticism as some believed the bill would only lead to higher tuition rates and contribute to rising student debt levels. Nonetheless, the bill prevailed with continued support from the Senate Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and student advocacy groups. In total, the program is estimated to cost the state $117 million in its first year and $49.5 million each year thereafter.
Who will it impact?
The Minnesota Office of Higher Education estimates that the NSP Scholarship will serve between 15,000 to 20,000
students within the first year. The program is open to all who have Minnesota residency status. Students must meet the following additional eligibility requirements:
Have a family Adjusted Gross Income* (AGI)as reported on theFree Application for Federal Student Aid(FAFSA)
or
Minnesota Dream Act Applicationbelow $80,000.
Attend a Minnesota public higher education institution or Tribal College.
Not be in default on a state or federal student loan.
Not have already earned a baccalaureate degree (including those earned in a foreign country).
Be enrolled in a program or course of study that applies to a degree, diploma, or certificate.
We will know more about the initial impacts of the program next year as the Minnesota Office of Higher Education is expected to produce a preliminary report by September 1, 2025.
Universal FAFSA
Universal FAFSA is a policy tool that makes the completion of either the FAFSA, a state-specific financial aid
form, or an opt-out form a high school graduation requirement. Minnesota’s version of the universal FAFSA bill was first introduced in the Senatein February 2023 and is still undergoing debate
and continued amendments.
Early research from other states shows that these policies are heavily correlated with higher FAFSA completion.
Louisiana, California, and Illinois are some of the early adopters of such policies and have seen the positive impact on FAFSA completion rates in numerous FAFSA cycles. Louisiana has closed the gap on completion rates between "low-income" and "high-income" school districts due to its universal FAFSA policy. NCAN will be on the lookout as to whether or not this gap reopens after Louisiana was the first state to rescind its universal FAFSA policy
in March 2024.
NCAN does not encourage blanket policy changes without proper implementation support and considerations of the student experience. NCAN recommends several strategies for states, one
of which includes providing resources for staff and students alike. Minnesota’s proposed bill allocates
funding towards creating resources and training for high school staff to support students in addition to a dedicated outreach plan for families to increase awareness. These are strategies that hope to ease and transition students, families, and staff
into the bill’s new expectations. Well-intentioned, and highly researched policies often do not have the expected outcome due to the lack of grassroots input. Implementation support on the ground is imperative, especially for key stakeholders affected
by the policy.
Minnesota is one of many states to introduce a universal FAFSA policy to transform their higher education outcomes. Minnesota,
however, has proposed a unique model that would look to break down barriers for students at every stage of the admissions process. This particular “three-legged stool” of policies does not currently exist in any other state, although many other states
have one or two of the three pieces. In Minnesota, as proposed, direct Admissions introduces students to their in-state college options early in the process, while universal FAFSA pushes students to better understand how much financial aid they could
receive, and finally NSP completely changes the affordability picture at the universities to which a student is accepted. The early results of Minnesota’s policies are promising as they break down barriers for post-secondary access for underserved
students. NCAN will keep an eye out for future evaluations of these policies’ impacts as well.
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