Legislative Highlights

In January, Chancellor Olson toured the state to meet with editorial boards to discuss our FY2026-2027 biennial request and the role Minnesota State plays in developing the talent pipeline for our state. Stories pertaining to Minnesota State’s legislative priorities included:

SMSU, MNWest discuss infrastructure hopes in new budget request
Marshall Independent – Jan. 13, 2025
By Samantha Davis

Minnesota West Community and Technical College President Terry Gaalswyk and Southwest Minnesota State University President Kumara Jayasuriya welcomed Minnesota State Chancellor Scott Olson to Marshall Monday afternoon, and sat down with the Independent to discuss the 2025 Capital and Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget Requests proposal. Minnesota State is the fourth largest system of colleges and universities in the country, and supports 26 colleges, seven universities, 54 campuses and serves 270,000 students annually across Minnesota. Olson and state leaders visited several Minnesota colleges and universities in September to hold listening sessions to hear from students, faculty and local community members about what educational support is needed for the new budget requests. After gathering a big picture of what Minnesota education institutions are currently in need of, the system built a proposal of the 2025 Capital Budget and Fiscal Year 2026-27 State Biennial Budget Request that was presented to the Board of Trustees and submitted to the Minnesota Management and Budget department mid-November. “Most of that (proposal) is about the bonding request,” Olson said. “It falls into the usual categories of just supporting our campuses, trying to keep student services what they should be.”

SMSU, MNWest plan to increase workforce support in new fiscal year; SMSU to move forward with nursing and social work programs
Marshall Independent – Jan. 14, 2025
By Samantha Davis

The Minnesota State education system is requesting $465 million in new funding for Fiscal Year 2026-27 between student support, workforce-focused support, system operations and critical infrastructure. This funding would be shared among the system’s 26 colleges and seven universities. A prominent section in the budget request proposal is workforce support, to help prepare students for employment opportunities. “One thing we didn’t hear on the listening tour (in September) were employers saying, ‘You know what, we’ve got enough talent. We have plenty of employees,'” Minnesota State Chancellor Scott Olson. “We heard the opposite.” Southwest Minnesota State University President Kumara Jayasuriya and Minnesota West Community and Technical College President Terry Gaalswyk welcomed Chancellor Olson to Marshall Monday afternoon to discuss the budget proposal. “As you think about SMSU and Minnesota West, we work very closely in regards to advancing our missions and purposes in the region, and also collaborating where it makes sense,” Gaalswyk said. In last year’s 2024-25 biennial budget request, $293 million was awarded out of the $350 million requested. If awarded, $40 million would be dedicated to workforce support. This includes keeping up to date with state-of-the-art equipment, expanding workforce development scholarship programs and supporting high demand programs. “These two schools (SMSU and MNWest) and our whole system is really the engine of workforce for Minnesota, overwhelmingly,” Olson said. “Our students really come from Minnesota. They stay in Minnesota, they pay taxes in Minnesota. When they graduate, they want to be here.”

MNWest, SMSU plan to continue student support efforts
Marshall Independent – Jan. 16, 2025
By Samantha Davis

The Minnesota higher education system has plans to continue supporting its students through a variety of resources and services, and will do so in the new biennium. “There is a safety net for (students) over here (in Minnesota),” Minnesota State Chancellor Scott Olson said. “They can focus on being students.” Southwest Minnesota State University President Kumara Jayasuriya and Minnesota West Community and Technical College President Terry Gaalswyk sat down with Olson in Marshall on Monday to discuss the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget proposal. The Minnesota State education system is requesting $465 million to be shared among its 26 colleges and seven universities, in sections of student support, workforce-focused support, system operations and critical infrastructure. Depending on how much is awarded, $40 million would be dedicated to student support needs. This would assist with essential and basic need resources, health services, emergency grants, textbooks, courses and more. “That was a loud and clear thing from students, is mental health services, and food banks on campus,” Olson said. “These kind of things allow students, who otherwise maybe couldn’t be college students, to actually be college students.” Mantra Health is a system-wide digital mental health provider that is available to Minnesota students. It offers therapy, self-care courses and crisis support. “For a student, a mental health crisis isn’t always going to occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a weekday … It could well be, probably more likely, in the early hours on a Saturday morning,” Olson said. “The beauty of this Mantra telemedicine is, it’s a live human being you’re interacting with, but it’s 24-7, 365 (days). It’s there for our students when the student needs it.” Jayasuriya acknowledged Mantra is well-received at SMSU. “That was a game changer for SMSU, Mantra Health … For a student who needs an appointment, they had to wait two weeks before this,” Jayasuriya said. “That really changed the dynamics on campus.”