HF 1288

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to higher education; modifying assigned 
  1.3             student responsibility; increasing the appropriation 
  1.4             for student grants; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, 
  1.5             section 136A.121, subdivision 5. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [PURPOSE STATEMENT.] 
  1.8      To make the most effective use of limited state financial 
  1.9   resources, the legislature finds that the total cost of 
  1.10  providing public services for citizens should be clearly and 
  1.11  easily identifiable.  For postsecondary education instructional 
  1.12  programs and services, this means the state has the general 
  1.13  presumption that support should be provided through student 
  1.14  tuition and financial aid programs.  This will allow the 
  1.15  legislature to maintain its vital commitment to both our 
  1.16  postsecondary education systems and to citizens, based on their 
  1.17  financial needs. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.121, 
  1.19  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.20     Subd. 5.  [GRANT STIPENDS.] The grant stipend shall be 
  1.21  based on a sharing of responsibility for covering the recognized 
  1.22  cost of attendance by the applicant, the applicant's family, and 
  1.23  the government.  The amount of a financial stipend must not 
  1.24  exceed a grant applicant's recognized cost of attendance, as 
  1.25  defined in subdivision 6, after deducting the following:  
  2.1      (1) the assigned student responsibility of at least 46 41 
  2.2   percent of the cost of attending the institution of the 
  2.3   applicant's choosing; 
  2.4      (2) the assigned family responsibility as defined in 
  2.5   section 136A.101; and 
  2.6      (3) the amount of a federal Pell grant award for which the 
  2.7   grant applicant is eligible. 
  2.8      The minimum financial stipend is $100 per academic year. 
  2.9      Sec. 3.  [TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.10     To reflect the decrease in assigned student responsibility 
  2.11  in section 2, $80,000,000 that would otherwise be appropriated 
  2.12  to the board of regents of the University of Minnesota and 
  2.13  $80,000,000 that would otherwise be appropriated to the board of 
  2.14  trustees of the Minnesota state colleges and universities, shall 
  2.15  be transferred to the higher education services office in the 
  2.16  higher education finance bill for the 2004 and 2005 fiscal 
  2.17  biennium.  The money transferred to the higher education 
  2.18  services office under this section shall be used to increase the 
  2.19  amount allocated to Minnesota state grants to offset tuition and 
  2.20  fee increases for students attending an institution within the 
  2.21  University of Minnesota and Minnesota state colleges and 
  2.22  universities systems.