Minnesota State Mankato hosts budget session

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - From student debt to staffing, Minnesota State University, Mankato and South Central College students and officials gathered Monday to discuss the upcoming budget for the Minnesota State College System.

Every two years, the Minnesota State College and University System holds meetings to discuss the budgets of the system’s 33 colleges and universities throughout Minnesota.

Mankato has two colleges in that sysem, Minnesota State Mankato and South Central College, and Mankato’s Budget Listening Session was held Monday to hear from college faculty, students and community members about what changes they would like to see regarding funding and resources for the colleges.

“Put together, these are the one-two punch for the South Central region, and we are very proud of both of these institutions, and they are very strong, vibrant institutions, and I want to thank the South Central region for the support and passion and commitment to these institutions,” Minnesota State Chancellor Devinder Malhotra said.

Some concerns raised during the meeting were diversity and inclusion, resource management post-COVID, and student work-study wages.

Students were also invited to attend the session and provide feedback.

Student Government President Emma Zellmer says that a chief concern of MSU’s student body is the ongoing student debt crisis.

“We have students who are at this institution that at no point in their lifetimes would have had the opportunity that our parents did, where the state legislature was funding our education, 67%, now they’re right around that 50%, Here at Mankato it’s even less,” Zellmer said.

From here the board will take the given concerns to present to the rest of the Minnesota State System, at which point funding and budget changes will be decided.

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