Minnesota Students Face Reduced Financial Aid for the Fourth Year Running 

For the fourth consecutive fiscal year, Minnesota’s State Grant Program is facing a significant budget shortfall, this time a $131 million gap, leaving thousands of college students with less aid than expected this fall. State projections suggest 80% of grant recipients will see their awards cut, with roughly a third losing $1,000 or more, and anywhere from 17,000 to 20,000 students could see their grants eliminated entirely. The program, which distributed $222 million to over 75,000 students in fiscal year 2025, has been strained by a surge in applications driven partly by rising enrollment and expanded federal Pell Grant eligibility that automatically drew more students into the state program. Despite proposals from Governor Walz and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, none of the solutions advanced during the most recent legislative session—including changes to the need calculation formula, tuition caps, and restrictions on eligibility for for-profit schools—gained enough support to pass, leaving advocates and students frustrated by what one Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmaker called a straightforward failure by legislators to honor a commitment to students who built their college plans around state aid.