Erin Adler

Several Minnesota private colleges have recently introduced creative efforts to prove to students and parents that they’re affordable, both in the cost of attending now — tuition, room and board and fees — and the amount of loan debt students will owe after graduation. From Winona to St. Paul, colleges and universities’ new strategies include a “no-loans” programme for Carleton College students getting financial aid, slashing the base tuition price at Concordia University, St. Paul and a St. Mary’s University of Minnesota initiative to help pay back loans post-graduation if alumni earn lower salaries.

Some colleges and universities are worried about a decline in the number of college-age students. But experts are divided on whether the decline is real and how bad it could be.

Some universities are worried about a decline in the number of college-age students. Experts are divided on whether the decline is real.

The idea that there will be a sharp, menacing dropoff in high school graduates that will have dramatic effects on college and university enrollment has often been repeated in higher education circles in recent years.

The idea that there will be a sharp, menacing dropoff in high school graduates that will have dramatic effects on college and university enrollment has often been repeated in higher education circles in recent years.

The idea that there will be a sharp, menacing dropoff in high school graduates that will have dramatic effects on college and university enrollment has often been repeated in higher education circles in recent years.

The intense reaction draws from concerns about AI and years of cuts and tuition increases at Minnesota's second-largest university.

The idea that there will be a sharp, menacing dropoff in high school graduates that will have dramatic effects on college and university enrollment has often been repeated in higher

The foundation's all-time high in fiscal year 2026 was followed by a move to become centralized and self-funded from the university starting last July. It also comes as the school is facing big spending cuts.

The University of Minnesota Foundation garnered $541 million in fiscal year 2026, an all-time record amid headwinds, changes underway in higher education