Moorhead college, university leaders talk impacts of Minnesota State system budget deficit
Plans to stabilize the Minnesota State system will have different immediate impacts on Minnesota State Moorhead and M State.
By Ingrid Harbo
The Forum
MOORHEAD — For two Moorhead schools, a budget deficit in the Minnesota State system will have different effects.
Leaders at Minnesota State Moorhead say the budget deficit in the Minnesota State system will tighten resources, but the situation is not dire for the four-year university.
“Our circumstances aren’t dire. But we will have to continue to work harder to find more resources, then save some of those resources in order to have that reserve that’s required where everybody sleeps well at night.” – President Tim Downs
But for Minnesota State Community and Technical College, a short-term plan to stabilize the system will reduce the amount of funding available for the two-year school, according to President Carrie Brimhall. The school has campuses in Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Wadena and Detroit Lakes.
“It no doubt has an impact on our budget, and we’ll have to make adjustments accordingly,” Brimhall said.
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is facing an approximately $30 million structural deficit in 2027. Overall, the 33-school system has a budget of more than $2 billion, according to Minnesota State Vice Chancellor Bill Maki.
On Wednesday, Oct. 14, the system’s board of trustees approved a proposal to transfer up to $25 million each year for the next four years to schools in financial crisis, namely St. Cloud State University and Bemidji State University. That money would come primarily from two-year community and technical colleges in the system, the Minnesota Reformer reported.
The Minnesota State system’s board of trustees is also formulating a request for funding from the Minnesota Legislature, Maki said.
The plan approved Wednesday shifts resources away from M State, Brimhall said. In its current iteration, the plan shifts $880,000 per year away from M State, or $3.5 million over the next four years. M State’s annual budget is around $42 million per year, with around 80% of the budget funding personnel costs.
Numbers in the most recent iteration of the plan are better than previous drafts, Brimhall said, thanks to feedback from presidents of the system’s two-year colleges. But for M State, the loss of funding will mean cuts to programs, Brimhall said.
“We’re trying to make decisions today that will keep us strong for as long as we can be around,” Brimhall said. “But those are not easy decisions. They’re really difficult decisions at this point.”
M State’s plan to close its Detroit Lakes campus by mid-2028 is one way the school is already cutting costs, Brimhall said, though she clarified the move was not directly related to the systemwide budget plans.
The systemwide resource shifts approved Wednesday will be a temporary measure as Minnesota State system leaders discuss how to restructure the Minnesota State system for financial sustainability, Maki said.
“There needs to be some changes in order to ensure we have healthy colleges and universities long into the future,” Maki said.
The budget deficit means each school in the system will need to figure out how to leverage its resources for the good of the system, said Minnesota State Moorhead President Tim Downs.
“Our circumstances aren’t dire,” Downs said of Minnesota State Moorhead. “But we will have to continue to work harder to find more resources, then save some of those resources in order to have that reserve that’s required where everybody sleeps well at night.”
One way his school is hoping to help the greater system is by finding ways the university can generate more revenue, Downs said. When programs are seeing high demand, the school looks at growing the program to bring in more students.
“The other side of the coin is, if you see a program that isn’t full, how do we fill the classes, or is that a program that we can sustain, either in whole or part?” Downs said. “These are ongoing conversations that we have all the time across campus.”
The university is trending in the right direction, Downs said, with undergraduate enrollments up 6.1% this fall and more than 80% of students returning for a second year. The school has an overall budget of around $120 million.