In May 2024, the Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die without providing additional funding for the University of Minnesota’s core missions and operations. Its supplemental budget bill included $500,000 in FY25 for other areas of higher education.
The second year of the biennium is called a non-budget year. The Minnesota Legislature was not required to pass any budget bills this session. Although the state budget projected a surplus for FY25; legislative leaders expressed caution about a structural imbalance that will affect future years.
During the 2024 Minnesota legislative session, the Board of Regents request $45 million in FY25 for core missions:
- Minimize tuition increases for students
- Retain talented faculty and staff through increased compensation
- Invest in more student services such as counseling, advising, and academic support
- Maintain safe, functional, and accessible classrooms and facilities
- Support research and technology infrastructure
"For our student laboratory supplies—which for some supplies, such as some of our microbiology plates—we have seen costs increase by over 400%. We cannot, nor do we want to, increase tuition and laboratory fees to pass these costs on to our students. My faculty deserve to be adequately compensated for the work they do. Programs like mine that help meet critical needs of the people of Minnesota need adequate support from the State of Minnesota."
- Donna Spannaus Martin, Professor and Program Director, University of Minnesota Medical Laboratory Sciences to the House Higher Education Committee on October 30, 2024