Members of the Minnesota state Legislature's Higher Education and Work Force Development committee debated a bill Wednesday that has the potential to make Wisconsin residents pay the University of Minnesota's higher in-state tuition rate.
Under the current reciprocity agreement between the two states, students from Wisconsin attending the U of M pay UW-Madison's in-state tuition rate, which is currently lower than the U of M's in-state tuition rate. Therefore, Wisconsin residents are currently paying less than Minnesota residents to attend the U of M.
Committee Chair Tom Rukavina said there has been a lot of pressure from parents and students from Minnesota who are paying roughly $2,000 more at their home university than U of M students from Wisconsin.
""The discrepancy has been getting more and more noticeable,"" Rukavina said.
Rukavina added that Wisconsin pays the state of Minnesota $5 million to bridge the gap.
""The agreement is that Wisconsin pays Minnesota back, but the problem is Wisconsin pays Minnesota into the general fund of our state—it doesn't go to our university system,"" Rukavina said.
According to the Republican Higher Education leader of the committee Bud Nornes, this conflict has not created tension between the state and the U of M.
""I think some of the committee members would rather see the university be able to make use of the difference—it would be positive for them,"" he said, but added he has not witnessed any state-university fighting over the money.
Another portion of the H.F. 398 bill would give an advantage to Minnesota residents in the admissions process at U of M.
""If they're getting close to being full and can't take any more students, they'd have to give preference to Minnesota residents,"" Nornes said of the bill's subsection.
Committee members agreed that they hope to resolve the matter with negotiation and not legislation, and that the reciprocity provision may not be included in the larger package of bills on which the committee will vote.
""I would much rather have the two states negotiate some kind of understanding,"" Nornes said of the reciprocity conflict. ""It's officially introduced, it's officially before the committee and the motion was made to lay it over for possible inclusion [in the larger bill].""
Committee Administrator Jim Gelbmann said he could not predict whether the bill would eventually pass but said the meeting was mainly for new committee members to learn the history of the issue.
""We're trying to negotiate a mutually agreeable solution,"" he said.
