In the new year, college applications in Minnesota will look a little different: They will no longer feature an initial question about a person's criminal history, a move supporters said creates better futures for those seeking higher education.
A new state law just took effect, prohibiting Minnesota's public and private colleges and universities from asking about applicants' criminal past on the initial forms they fill out, except for programs such as law enforcement.
Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten, DFL-St. Paul, sponsored the bill and she said by boosting access to higher education, they are giving applicants an outlet to reconcile with their past and chart a new course.
"It's about giving people an opportunity to explain their stories and their situations and not putting them in a position where they don't even want to try," Verbeten explained. "That's really the hardest thing about when there is that box is a lot of people just give up."
The change is a recommendation from the federal Beyond the Box report of 2023. Research shows nearly two-thirds of those who disclosed felony convictions did not submit their application. Amid efforts across the U.S., some schools still express concern about public safety. Verbeten argued Minnesota's law strikes a good balance and gives schools the opportunity to follow up before a student is enrolled.
Will Cooley, policy director for the Minnesota Justice Research Center, testified in favor of the plan. He said generally speaking, similar moves have enjoyed bipartisan support, including in conservative states like Louisiana.
"I have worked on Ban the Box campaigns in the past," Cooley recounted. "One thing that really struck me was the broad swath of supporters, religious congregations, chambers of commerce, formerly incarcerated people, the list goes on."
The federal report cited findings showing no significant difference between the campus crime rates of schools emphasizing looking into applicants' criminal background and institutions which did not. The authors also noted educational achievement reduces recidivism by 48%, easing pressure on state and federal budgets when factoring incarceration costs.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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Today's college students may prefer communicating by text but New Mexico State University still finds person-to-person phone calls from faculty and staff effective at getting them to stay in school.
The "Calling All Aggies" campaign is a campuswide initiative which began in 2007 to improve student retention and graduation.
Freddie Romero, academic adviser at New Mexico State University, said first- or second-year students can worry a four-year degree will prove too difficult but a phone call from the right person or department can help.
"Sometimes the problems that students are dealing with require a more thorough conversation," Romero explained. "Today's economy and everything that students have to juggle, with the price of school and having to do jobs and take care of family members, it's hard."
Nationwide, the pandemic had a significant effect on college student retention, especially particularly among first-time freshmen and community college students. In the fall of 2023, the school's first-year retention rate increased to almost 75%, a more than a 2% jump from the previous year and near the highest level reached before the pandemic.
A second outreach program watches for signs of academic distress based on grades among freshman and sophomore students when they are six weeks into a semester. Romero pointed out early intervention can help catch what could become a serious issue, which ultimately affects a scholarship or student aid and prevents a promising student from enrolling the next semester.
"If somebody gets to that junior, senior year and they're considering stopping out it's a bummer, because they've already invested so much money and time here," Romero emphasized. "We know that when they do graduate with their degree their prospects for work and for advancement up the socioeconomic ladder is going to be a lot easier."
The program has been recognized with an innovation award by the Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education. This year's campaign begins May 15.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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It has been a busy week for supporters of higher education in Illinois, with two separate protests at Northern Illinois University and Northeastern Illinois University.
More than 100 students and faculty members rallied Tuesday at Chicago's Northeastern Illinois campus in support of the Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Act. Students spoke about the importance of higher-ed funding, particularly for diverse campuses serving many low-income and first-generation students.
Brandon Bisbey, assistant professor of Spanish at Northeastern Illinois, said the bill would help to address the university's underfunding challenges. He pointed out state appropriations cover about 30% of their budget.
"It costs more money to serve students whose social identities have these different aspects that affect their experience," Bisbey pointed out. "This is something that we struggle with at Northeastern, because we just do not have the resources to give all the students all the resources that they need."
He noted the school has been forced to continue to increase tuition to keep up with the disinvestment in higher education, and said fair funding is even more critical in light of the Trump administration's attacks on university funding and academic freedom.
On Wednesday, Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., joined nearly 250 demonstrators on Northern Illinois' DeKalb campus. They rallied against the Trump administration's decision to revoke visas of at least five of the school's international students.
Mark Van Wienen, professor of English at Northern Illinois, said international students, faculty and staff received legal advice not to attend the rally due to potential threats from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He observed it all speaks to the idea freedoms of assembly and speech should in some way be curbed in the U.S.
"That there should be a line drawn between international colleagues and international students, who are here as our invited guests, brings just sadness and a sense of determination," Van Wienen emphasized. "This is not what the United States is fundamentally about."
Van Wienen, along with organizers, encouraged the demonstrators to reach out to their elected officials to oppose executive orders threatening constitutional rights and the well-being of international community members and the university.
"We need to stand up now in support of them and we need to stand up now for the support of our rights," Van Wienen urged. "Because if we don't now, and we don't continuously, those rights are at grave risk."
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For Minnesota households planning future college enrollment, there is a good chance tuition will cost more, as public campuses facing tighter budgets hope their outreach can keep low- to middle-income students enrolled.
As the Legislature maps out Minnesota's next spending plan, higher education most likely will not see extra funding, even as school operating costs keep rising. During this week's board meeting for the state colleges and universities system, tuition hikes ranging from around 4% to 9% were floated for the next two budget years.
John Hoffman, president of Bemidji State University and NTC: Bemidji's Technical College, said it is concerning as he considers his student population.
"Half of our students are first-generation college students," Hoffman pointed out. "The majority of our students come from rural communities, where they have faced educational barriers in their prior educational experiences."
Hoffman emphasized Bemidji State, along with its affiliated technical college, closely advises affected students to manage an efficient course load, which means avoiding taking on classes not key to their graduation plans as one way to avoid pausing their higher-ed career when costs go up. The potential increases are well above the average 1.7% hikes over the past decade.
In the current budget cycle, tuition levels for state colleges and universities are frozen and Bemidji State is coming off a 10% enrollment increase for new students. Hoffman added they know it could change.
"We are aware that the number of students who were born back in 2008 and in the years following (is) smaller," Hoffman acknowledged. "So the number of students who are graduating from high school over the next several years in north central Minnesota is going to be down."
To prevent it from becoming another budget problem for the school, he noted Bemidji State will keep emphasizing its value as a haven for transfer students, and for adult learners seeking a career change.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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