Bruininks readied U for better future

The fiscal fate of the University of Minnesota remains uncertain and unsettling as President Robert Bruininks prepares to move out of Morrill Hall this week.

But because of the course Bruininks charted through nine years as CEO, the state's flagship educational institution is better positioned to handle whatever Gov. Mark Dayton and the Legislature deal higher education this year and in years to come.

That's an achievement that ranks Bruininks among the university's best presidents.

He deserves applause as he turns the presidential suite over to Eric Kaler and heads into the next phase of a 40-year career in his adopted home state.

With a no-drama style and instinctive inclusiveness, Bruininks has shored up the quality of his institution and has propped open its doors to low-income students, while simultaneously beginning to wean it from state support.

He brought years of policy squabbles about "access vs. excellence" to an end with the right answer: The university's rightful mission is to provide access to the excellence that a research-focused school provides.

From that understanding sprang what may be Bruininks' signature accomplishment -- making student financial aid the institution's top fundraising priority.

As a result, the university is able to waive fees and tuition for its 4,500 lowest-income students and provide additional financial aid to thousands more. Tuition increases have become unavoidable as state support erodes, as the most recent 5 percent hike for resident undergraduates illustrates.

But because of the surge in financial aid, a University of Minnesota education is more likely to remain affordable for promising undergraduates of limited means.

Bruininks also deserves credit for launching the Biomedical Discovery District, the shiny new manifestation of the university's effort to advance Minnesota's biomedical industry.

The district's three large lab buildings may not get as much notice as their football-stadium neighbor, which also bears Bruininks' stamp. But those facilities could well be the cradle of mid-21st century prosperity.

There's much more to cheer about the Bruininks years: A big improvement in graduation rates. A stellar record of attracting research funding. Establishment of a Twin Cities campus-wide honors program.

It should be acknowledged that these accomplishments were spurred at least in part by the state money squeeze that Bruininks and the U endured throughout his presidential tenure. He came to office as the state was slashing higher-education funding.

It never fully rebounded. More cuts began in 2008. This year, the Legislature backed the deepest and most disruptive cut yet -- 19 percent less-than-forecasted base funding for the next two years.

That misguided cut ill befits a state that aims to make its economic mark with its brainpower. It was stopped by a gubernatorial veto.

Dayton is right to make more money for higher education a priority as he seeks a budget compromise with the Legislature for the next two years. Budget talks were in progress at this writing.

But no matter how this month's budget stalemate ends, chances are slim that in the foreseeable future taxpayers will shoulder as large a share of higher-education costs as they did in the last half of the 20th century.

* * *