Uncertainty and worry remain in Minnesota higher education after President Donald Trump’s administration tried to freeze federal funds on Jan. 28.
Sen. Doron Clark (DFL-Minneapolis), a member of the Senate’s education finance and higher education committees, said uncertainty about the effect of the funding freeze limits the University of Minnesota community from planning ahead.
“We just don’t have certainty, and we need certainty so the University can hire professors, so students can plan for what they need to do this summer, so they can plan for how they’re gonna pay for this,” Clark said.
The vague freeze announcement from the Trump administration caused widespread confusion among healthcare and education organizations. A federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze the same day though Medicaid portals, the U.S. public health insurance programs, were down in all 50 states on Jan. 28.
In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz’s office said in a press release the funding freeze directly impacted around $1.9 billion in the state’s monthly spending on Medicaid and assistance programs like SNAP.
“President Trump is leaving states out in the cold without any guidance or explanation,” Walz said in the Jan. 28 press release. “Minnesota needs answers.”
Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten (DFL-St. Paul), another member of the Senate Education Finance and Higher Education committees, said the committee sat down with the Minnesota Department of Education, the University and the private colleges council to understand how education institutions were affected.
Oumou Verbeten said that while the federal fund’s issue is uncertain, students continue depending on federal Pell Grants, loans, SNAP benefits, and the Women, Infants and Children program to attend school.
“There’s a lot of federal funding that we depend on and cutting that would be devastating to our students and then devastating to our institutions,” Oumou Verbeten said. “That’s absolutely certain that those things are needed.”
More than 33,000 students at the University received federal loans or grant money to attend school in 2023.
Clark said losing federal funding would also impact the community the University serves through its health centers.
“Trump’s freeze isn’t just how you pay for your tuition, it’s also how you afford food, it’s also how you get into your housing. It’s, if you are a veteran, will you even be able to get your promised benefit GI bill benefits?” Clark said.
Without clarity on how much federal money the University will get, Clark said determining how many students to accept, or how many professors and counselors to hire, is difficult.
The 2024-25 state budget relies on nearly $4 billion in federal grants. Around 10% of Minnesota’s public schools budget relies on federal funding, which directly impacts school districts, according to Oumou Verbeten.
“To put that into perspective, we do a lot of work in (the education finance) committee trying to get like one, two, three, four percent more on the formula for our school districts,” Oumou Verbeten said. “Imagine they’ve got a 10% cut just right off the bat.”
Clark said despite partisanship in the state legislature, he is confident that his Republican counterparts in the Senate understand the gravity of potentially losing federal funding.
“I trust that my friends on the Republican side are beginning to recognize that this is causing real harm and will shout and provide some help,” Clark said.
Oumou Verbeten said the focus for Minnesota lawmakers is to resolve this issue and protect students’ financial well-being.
“It’s valid to worry about something that is so important to your future and to your ability to be in school,” Oumou Verbeten said. “I also would say know that you have strong advocates, know that you have people who are fighting for you.”
