Minnesotans are accustomed to being called above average. That put higher education analyst David Longanecker on solid ground with a St. Paul audience last Wednesday as he described this state as "a bit above average" in its support for public higher education.

Longanecker, a former Minnesotan who heads the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, explained that by "support," he did not mean taxpayer dollars alone. He was tallying total public college and university revenue — tuition plus government aid to institutions and to students — per full-time-equivalent student. Examine those components separately, and Minnesotans might not be as sanguine about the story they tell:

• Tuition at Minnesota's public colleges and universities is running more than 50 percent higher than the national average.

• State and local support for those schools was 17 percent below the U.S. average in 2011. It's likely up a bit since then, because of more generous state funding in 2013. But it likely still lags the national average.

• Minnesota once led the nation in the generosity and reach of its financial aid for low-income students. As of 2012-13, it had fallen to ninth most generous among the states.

Those numbers say that, wittingly or not, Minnesota has adopted a high-tuition model to finance public higher education. To attempt to go back to the low-tuition approach of a generation or two ago, Longanecker said, would either be "very expensive or very destructive" — expensive for taxpayers or destructive of educational quality. He advised this state to stay the course, but make sure student financial aid stays generous and compatible with the changing economic circumstances affecting an increasingly diverse student body.

Considering whether and how to take that advice is the assignment accepted by Longanecker's audience, a new working group established by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Citizens League, with funding from the Lumina Foundation. Some 75 educators and policymakers intend to craft recommendations for the 2015 Legislature about how Minnesota can make college more affordable while increasing the share of college students who graduate.

That's a timely and important assignment. Growth in the state's labor force is projected to slow dramatically by 2020, as demand for well-educated workers climbs. Keeping Minnesota prosperous will require getting more Minnesotans into and through college.