Higher education wasn’t the centerpiece, but Gov. Tim Pawlenty touched on issues pertaining to the ‘U’ and the MnSCU system in his State of the State address at the Capitol on Thursday.

Calling for a cap on tuition increases and for more courses to be moved online, Pawlenty may have been hinting that he doesn’t want students to bear the brunt of a possible cut in higher education funding when his budget is announced in a few weeks.

Source: Star Tribune

A possible cut is something even University President Bob Bruininks has acknowledged.

In a statement Friday, Bruininks said, "State-mandated tuition caps in the face of the significant budget cuts we expect the governor to recommend later this month will severely compromise the university’s ability to educate our more than 60,000 students and deliver on our research mission which attracts nearly $700 million in outside funding each year."

The Humphrey Institute’s Smart Politics blog has an interesting analysis here.

Tuesday’s Daily will get further response from the University and the Governor’s Office.