Counterpoint | PSEO deserves an A, not an ‘incomplete’

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For Minnesota taxpayers and students, Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) deserves an A, not the “incomplete” a recent column awarded (“At 40, Minnesota’s PSEO program earns an incomplete,” Strib Voices, Aug. 17). Research shows PSEO saves taxpayers more than $15 million every year and participating families nearly $60 million. It can be improved, but Minnesotans deserve the full story.

I know this not as a pundit but as someone whose life was shaped by PSEO. At 16, I enrolled at St. Paul’s Gordon Parks High School, already behind on credits and surrounded by low adult expectations. I took PSEO college courses at the University of Minnesota and St. Paul College. I earned straight A’s. It was the first time I felt truly seen for what I could do. PSEO expanded my vision of what was possible. Thirteen years later, I lead Catalyst for Systems Change, helping young people access the same opportunities that changed my life.

I wasn’t alone. My colleague Zeke Jackson grew up in rural Minnesota at a high school with no AP classes and few concurrent enrollment options. To find more rigorous coursework and save money, he enrolled in PSEO at the University of Minnesota. His high school told him (wrongly) that he couldn’t attend prom because of his PSEO participation. That injustice drove him to join People for PSEO, where he became executive director at just 17 years old. He spent the last five years sharing accurate information with students, families and educators.

My colleague Aaliyah Hodge, now senior director of transformation at the KIPP Foundation, credits PSEO for shaping her career. As a low-income student at St. Louis Park High School, she couldn’t afford four years of tuition. By graduation, she had 58 credits from the U, completed her bachelor’s degree at 19 years old and master’s at 21. Her story — like mine — proves PSEO changes life trajectories.

The outcomes back us up. Minnesota Department of Education statistics show on-time graduation for 2019 at 83.7% statewide, but 97.6% among PSEO or concurrent enrollment (CE) participants. For Black students, it’s 69.9% overall vs. 93.8% with PSEO/CE participation. Moreover, for 2016 graduates, college completion within six years was 54.9% across all students, vs. 75.9% for PSEO or College in the Schools participants — a 21-point jump.

Yet access to PSEO — academic or career-technical — is blocked by some adults. Despite PSEO law requirements, most schools fail to provide accurate, up-to-date information about the program. People for PSEO’s statewide scans found only 36% of district and 70% of charter websites provided all required information in 2024. Twelve percent had no PSEO information at all.

That’s adult gatekeeping. When a counselor tells a kid they’ll “miss out on high school,” or a district hides information to protect enrollment, students lose out on credits, dollars and time.

PSEO also doesn’t cover everything students need. Tuition, books and fees are paid — but not food. A low-income PSEO student receives free lunch in high school but not on a college campus. Meanwhile the mileage reimbursement rate hasn’t increased since 1985, and the program doesn’t cover U-Passes or bus cards. This discourages many students that PSEO was meant to serve.

Students welcome additional funds on PSEO, as some educators urge, if some money pays for what 130-plus “changemaker” students identified as priorities: food and transportation. A recent district court ruling on PSEO didn’t help with this.

Debating about whether PSEO “hurts” high schools is so off-base. Research confirms that PSEO helps students graduate, persist and complete degrees; it saves families and taxpayers money; and does so at scale.

I am where I am today — in my career, in my community and in leadership — because PSEO gave me a chance. Every Minnesota student should have that opportunity.