Schools
FAFSA opening delayed; application will look different this year
A new version of the federal application for student aid will open by Dec. 31, two months later than usual. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FAFSA, is how prospective college students access federal financial aid programs, including grants, subsidized loans and unsubsidized loans, which can be forgiven in certain circumstances. Many […]
DFL lawmakers to introduce cap on families’ child care costs
A contingent of DFL lawmakers plan to introduce legislation next year capping child care costs at 7% of household income for all families making less than 150% the state median income. For example, a family of four making less than $176,000 per year would spend no more than $12,320 on child care in a year. […]
Minnesotans would save big with caps on child care costs
Advocates for affordable child care have launched a new tool to help parents figure out what they would be paying for child care if Minnesota tackled runaway costs. The federal Department of Health and Human Services suggests that families pay no more than 7% of their yearly household income on child care, no matter how […]
Conservative groups lick wounds after school board election loss, vow to continue fighting
The Minnesota Parents Alliance and its conservative allies spent thousands on school board races this year, predicting that their candidates who promoted “parental rights” would win big among suburbanites. But voters last week rejected the majority of the group’s candidates, electing 11 out of the 44 that MPA endorsed. Despite the losses, MPA did score […]
A committee is now hearing Minnesotans’ opinions on the new ethnic studies curriculum
As culture war issues over race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality roil every level of government from school boards to the U.S. Congress, Minnesota is revisiting its social studies standards, including the highly contentious issue of how to teach ethnic studies. Implementation of a bill mandating ethnic studies as a required course for Minnesota students is […]
NDSU creates free tuition program after expressing concern over Minnesota’s
Facing fierce competition from Minnesota’s new free college program, North Dakota State University announced Thursday that it will offer free tuition for eligible North Dakota and Minnesota first- or second-year students during the 2024-25 school year. Students who have families with a gross adjusted income of $80,000 or less and are eligible for federal Pell […]
Conservative candidates underwhelm in suburban school board races
An effort by conservatives to win suburban school board races running on the theme of “parental rights” came up short in most races Tuesday, but they scored major victories in the state’s largest school district: Anoka-Hennepin. Even as most Minnesota voters rejected the prospect of school board fights over polarizing culture war issues, many also […]
Outside groups spending thousands to influence the fate of Minnesota’s school districts
Outside political spending is flooding school board races and bonding campaigns this year, as the once-sleepy contests for jobs that come with little pay are now freighted with polarized politics and culture war issues. On the school bond side, a GOP-aligned business group is opposing an education funding increase — in Mankato. The nascent, Minneapolis-based Minnesota […]
Nearly two-thirds of Minnesota undergrads take out student loans
Nearly two-thirds of Minnesota students who graduated with bachelor’s degrees last year have student debt, and those who took out loans owe an average of $24,000. Students earning master’s and doctoral degrees take out loans less frequently, but when they do, they borrow more money than undergraduates, according to a Minnesota Department of Higher Education […]
Partisanship is again at forefront of this year’s school board elections
For many Minnesotans, the only races on their Nov. 7 ballot will be their local school board election, but the stakes are high. Multiple factors are driving intensity of these nominally nonpartisan races: First, education is at the center of a swirl of culture war issues Republicans have been driving in the past few years, […]
While other states face child care funding cliff, Minnesota avoids disaster
Most of the pandemic-era federal funding that raised pay for child care providers and kept day cares open expired over the weekend, but in Minnesota, the programs will largely continue with state funds. Across the country, thousands of day cares are expected to close due to the expiration of the federal money, worsening a child […]
DFL leadership shuts down special session talk, will revisit police in schools issue next year
DFL legislative leadership on Thursday said it’s committed to holding hearings about school resource officers and a ban on prone restraints in Minnesota schools when the 2024 legislative session starts in February — effectively shutting down further discussion of a special legislative session regarding the law this year. House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and […]