U budget request targets money for tuition relief, salary increases

A "modest" increase of $142 million from the state would help keep education affordable, the U president said.

By JEFF SHELMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: September 5, 2008 - 8:40 PM

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Tuition relief for students from middle-class families and increased pay for faculty and staff are the highlights of the legislative budget request that will be unveiled next week to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.

University President Robert Bruininks is proposing a two-year request to the Legislature that would increase state spending by about $142 million.

If approved by the Legislature, the average tuition increase would be 4.5 percent per year across the university system in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

"It's a pretty modest request to the state relative to the requests we've made over the last 10 years," said Richard Pfutzenreuter, a university vice president and chief financial officer. "It's in recognition that the state has some budget problems."

The request represents a 9.8 percent increase over the previous biennium. The regents will hear Bruininks' budget plan when they meet on Friday.

Resident students from middle-income families would gain the most from the additional funding.

Currently, Minnesota students from families making less than $150,000 annually have received a scholarship, which has essentially slowed tuition increases.

The new program -- which would cost about $8 million annually -- will be need-based and for resident students from families making between $50,000 and $100,000. Pfutzenreuter said that a student from a family making $100,000 might receive only $500 in aid while a student from a family making $50,000 might receive $4,000.

About 65 percent of the school's undergraduates would be eligible for the awards that would average $1,700, Pfutzenreuter said.

After tuition on the Twin Cities campus went up 7.25 percent for the 2008-09 school year, the university is trying to limit increases over the next two years.

More than $95 million of the new money would be used to increase wages for faculty and staff at all of the university's campuses. The average raise would be 3 percent annually, but some employees would see larger or smaller increases.

The remaining funds would be used to enhance research and research infrastructure.

The university has an annual budget of about $3 billion. The state's part of that would be $1.546 billion under the two-year request.

Pfutzenreuter said that the university hopes it will continue to invest in the state's flagship university.

"For us, it's important to tell the Legislature and the Board of Regents that we've made tremendous progress over the last 15 years," he said. "We need to maintain that momentum."

Jeff Shelman • 612-673-7478

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