SF 3084

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/09/2018 09:05am

A bill for an act
relating to higher education; mandating a standardized financial aid award letter
for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; imposing a moratorium on new
student fees at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; requiring reports;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 136F.303; proposing coding for new
law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 136F.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 136F.303, is amended to read:

136F.303 new text begin STUDENT OUTCOMES, new text end DEGREE AND CERTIFICATE
COMPLETION; REPORT.

new text begin (a) new text end Beginning in 2018, the board shall annually by January 15, report to the chairs and
ranking minority members of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over higher education
finance on its activities and achievements related to the goal of improving timely completion
of degrees and certificates. The report must, at a minimum, include for the previous academic
year:

(1) the percent of students placed in remedial education;

(2) the percent of students who complete remediation within one academic year;

(3) the percent of students who complete college-level gateway courses in one academic
year;

(4) the percent of students who complete 30 semester credits per academic year;

(5) the student retention rate;

(6) time to complete a degree or certificate; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(7) credits earned by those completing a degree or certificate or other program deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ;
new text end

new text begin (8) three-year graduation rate by cohort at community colleges;
new text end

new text begin (9) six-year graduation rate by cohort at universities;
new text end

new text begin (10) transfer rate by cohort;
new text end

new text begin (11) percent employed in degree field one year after graduation by program;
new text end

new text begin (12) median student loan debt by program;
new text end

new text begin (13) expenditures per completion by program; and
new text end

new text begin (14) student to faculty ratio.
new text end

new text begin (b) new text end The report must disaggregate data for each college and university by race, ethnicity,
Pell Grant eligibility, and age and provide aggregate data.

new text begin (c) Each state college and university shall make publicly available through its Web site
the data reported under paragraph (b) pertaining to that institution. The data must be
accessible and understandable to the general public.
new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [136F.703] FINANCIAL AID AWARD LETTER.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin The board shall develop and implement a standardized
financial aid award letter format to be used by all state colleges and universities. The award
letter must be consumer friendly, simple, and easy to understand.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Content. new text end

new text begin At minimum, the award letter must include:
new text end

new text begin (1) information on the student's estimated cost of attendance with a disclaimer that actual
costs depend on decisions made by the student. The estimate must be based on the most
current costs of tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and
miscellaneous personal expenses for the period covered by the financial aid award letter;
new text end

new text begin (2) the amount of financial aid for the period covered by the award letter that the student
does not have to repay, such as scholarships and grant aid;
new text end

new text begin (3) whether a student will receive or could receive the state financial aid in clause (2)
for each term the student enrolls at the institution;
new text end

new text begin (4) the estimated net cost of attendance that the student is expected to pay to attend the
institution for the period covered by the award letter, with a disclaimer that actual costs
depend on decisions made by the student. The estimated net cost of attendance is equal to
the cost of attendance described in clause (1), minus the amount of grant aid described in
clause (2);
new text end

new text begin (5) work study assistance, including a disclosure that the aid must be earned by the
student and a disclosure that the assistance offered is subject to the availability of employment
opportunities;
new text end

new text begin (6) the types of loans and amounts of loans offered to the student, a disclosure that such
loans must be repaid, a disclosure that the student can borrow less than the recommended
loan amount, interest rates for each loan, the expected monthly payment and total expected
repayment amount assuming a ten-year repayment plan and normal time to completion of
the student's degree, and a disclosure that the student may be eligible for extended or
income-driven repayment plans that allow the borrower to make lower monthly payments
but that longer repayment plans may result in the student paying more money over the life
of the loans;
new text end

new text begin (7) the most recent cohort's student loan default rate and the national average student
loan default rate;
new text end

new text begin (8) the percentage of students at the institution who take out student loans and median
debt at graduation for students at the institution;
new text end

new text begin (9) where a student or the student's family can seek additional information regarding the
financial aid offered, including contact information for the institution's financial aid office
and the United States Department of Education's Web site on financial aid;
new text end

new text begin (10) the deadline and summary for accepting the financial aid offered;
new text end

new text begin (11) the academic period covered by the financial aid offer form and a clear indication
whether the aid offered is based on full-time or part-time enrollment;
new text end

new text begin (12) percent employment of graduates in the student's degree field one year after
graduation;
new text end

new text begin (13) normal time graduation rate; and
new text end

new text begin (14) freshman to sophomore retention rate.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Implementation. new text end

new text begin The board must develop and implement the standardized
award letter by the start of academic year 2020-2021.
new text end

Sec. 3.

new text begin [136F.75] FINANCIAL REPORTING.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Campus budget reports. new text end

new text begin Annually by January 15, each state college
and university must make publicly available on its Web site a copy of the full campus budget
for the previous fiscal year and a report on the revenue and expenditures of the institution.
Each report must include information on:
new text end

new text begin (1) revenue categories, sources, and amounts;
new text end

new text begin (2) spending on the instruction of students;
new text end

new text begin (3) spending on academic support, including academic advising and other services;
new text end

new text begin (4) personnel costs by category; and
new text end

new text begin (5) other expenditures.
new text end

new text begin The first reports are due January 15, 2019, and must include the same information for each
prior fiscal year to fiscal year 2010.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Student fee budget reports and audits. new text end

new text begin (a) The board shall annually collect
the student fee budgets of every state college and university at the end of the fiscal year.
When conducting financial reviews of the colleges and universities, the board shall include
an audit of all student fee revenues and expenditures to ensure compliance with board
policies.
new text end

new text begin (b) Annually by January 15, each state college and university must make publicly
available on its Web site a copy of the full student fee budget showing all revenue and
expenditures from the most recent fiscal year and a report on the revenue generated by and
expenditures of student fees for the most recently completed fiscal year. This report must
include information on:
new text end

new text begin (1) revenue generated by each fee;
new text end

new text begin (2) employee positions and salaries supported by each fee;
new text end

new text begin (3) faculty stipends or salary supported by each fee;
new text end

new text begin (4) number of student organizations supported;
new text end

new text begin (5) student organization expenditures;
new text end

new text begin (6) athletics programs supported;
new text end

new text begin (7) student support services funded;
new text end

new text begin (8) academic support services funded;
new text end

new text begin (9) student worker positions supported; and
new text end

new text begin (10) any inconsistencies with board policies and actions taken to address those
inconsistencies.
new text end

new text begin The first reports are due by January 15, 2019.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin MINNESOTA STATE STUDENT FEE MORATORIUM.
new text end

new text begin (a) The Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is prohibited
from creating or preparing to implement any new mandatory or optional student fees until
after the end of fiscal year 2021.
new text end

new text begin (b) If the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities implements
any new mandatory or optional student fee prior to the end of fiscal year 2021, the
commissioner of management and budget shall deduct an amount equal to the net revenue
generated by any fee increase from the base appropriation to the Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities in the first year of the next biennium.
new text end