Minnesota lawmakers host tuition roundtable at MSU-Moorhead
MOORHEAD (KFGO-AM/KVRR) — Faculty and students at MSU-M met with state lawmakers to share their frustrations over a lack of state funding for higher education.
Megan Turk is a senior who’s had to take out student loans to cover tuition costs. She says the debt has made her future uncertain. “They make it almost impossible. I don’t know how after I graduate with all this debt that I’m going to be able to have a house or a family. They just make it very different to succeed with these debts,” Turk said.
The average Minnesota college student is currently graduating carrying more than $30,000 in student loan debt with them.
MSUM President Anne Blackhurst says the 5th place ranking is a reflection of the student population. She also says the lack of state funding is a major factor. “State support for higher education has declined in the last decade so students pay more of the share of the cost of their higher education, than they did at one time,” Blackhurst said.
State Representative Ben Lien says one of the state’s top goals is to bring back affordable higher education. Lien says the state is looking into how it can pick up 60-70 percent of the average student tuition cost.
Article published on KFGO.