Financial Aid

For more information, please reference these resources:

Minnesota State Grant (Office of Higher Education)
State Profile: Minnesota (State Higher Education Finance)
NASSGAP Annual Survey (National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs)
Booker, K. (2016). Connection and Commitment: How Sense of Belonging and Classroom Community Influence Degree Persistence for African American Undergraduate Women. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 28(2), 218-229:
Graduate Debt (Office of Higher Education)

Postsecondary

“College”, “postsecondary education”, or “higher education” are different ways of describing any type of education or training one receives after graduating from high school or getting a GED. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) collects data on public colleges and universities in Minnesota, and private colleges which are licensed or registered under state law. To find a complete list of colleges visit the Institution and Data Search page on OHE’s website.

General operating expenses

Expenses.

Public financial aid

Allocations to state scholarships or other state financial aid for students attending public in-state institutions. Includes all aid that is not expected to be repaid. Excludes any allocation to state loan programs.

Financial aid – other

Includes allocations to state scholarships or other state financial aid for students attending in-state private institutions as well as state financial aid for students attending public and independent out-of-state institutions.

Research, agriculture and medical expenses

The portion of total state and local appropriations targeted by legislative budget line-item identification or institutional designation for the direct operations of research, agriculture, public health care services, and medical schools. Does not include discretionary use by faculty of unrestricted appropriations supplemented by other revenues for short-term research primarily performed as an adjunct component of instruction (departmental research of an unsponsored nature). When unknown, appropriations for sponsored research are estimated as equal to total research expenditures less state grants and contracts for research and federal and private revenues restricted for research. Does not include any tuition revenues used for research.

Other expenditures

All other spending not defined here.

Education appropriations

State and local support available for public higher education operating expenses, defined to include state public financial aid and exclude spending for research, agricultural, and medical education, as well as support for independent institutions or students attending them.

Net tuition revenue

Gross tuition and fee revenue less state-funded student aid, institutional tuition discounts and waivers, and tuition revenue paid by medical students. This is a measure of the resources available from tuition and fees to support instruction and related operations at public higher education institutions and includes revenue from in-state and out-of-state students as well as undergraduate and graduate students.

FTE Enrollment

Full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment converts student credit hours to full-time academic year students. FTE excludes medical students.

Annual credits

The sum of enrolled credits across all terms for that year, for use in calculating the student’s State Grant award.

Need-based aid

Financial aid typically awarded in the form of grants. Need is calculated by subtracting the student’s expected family contribution and other grants received from the student’s total cost of attendance.

Students of color and indigenous

Includes students self-identifying as one of the following racial/ethnic categories: American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, students identifying as belonging to two or more racial groups.

Pell grants

Federal need-based aid that the student doesn’t repay. Students can receive Pell grants for their undergraduate study until they complete a baccalaureate or their first professional degree (such as pharmacy or dentistry) or have received a Pell grant for the equivalent of 12 full-time semesters, whichever comes first.

State grants

State need-based aid that the student doesn’t repay. State grants are awarded based on the student’s remaining need (Cost of Attendance – Pell Grants – Expected Family Contribution).

Associate or less

Includes associate degrees and sub-baccalaureate certificates.

Cumulative median debt

The median debt graduates incurred to complete a postsecondary award only at the institution conferring the award, for each award level.

Persistence

For students enrolled in a postsecondary institution, this indicates continued enrollment in the next academic year (or graduation) at any postsecondary institution in Minnesota.

Freshman

First-time new entering undergraduate student.

Transfer

New formal or informal transfer student.

150% on-time completion

For students pursuing a bachelor’s degree, 150% on-time completion is six years. For students pursuing an associate degree or a sub-baccalaureate certificate, 150% on-time completion is three years.