GOP House plan offers tuition relief for some Minn. college students

Some community college students may see lower tuition under a higher-education budget approved by the Republican-led House Monday, while University of Minnesota students hoping for the same were largely shut out.

Legislators voted 72-55 to approve a $2.9 billion higher education funding bill that contains about $56 million in new spending.

The bill would use limited funds to surgically reduce tuition for certain groups. Tuition freezes would apply only to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities’ two-year community colleges in the upcoming academic year and its seven universities the following year. Those four-year MnSCU universities could raise tuition as much as 3 percent in the 2015-16 school year, while two-year colleges would be given funding that would allow for a 1 percent reduction in the 2016-17 school year.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/301499461.html