House, Senate conferees wrap up higher education bill with technical changes, new grants

Like students sliding homework onto the teacher’s desk just as the bell rings, lawmakers wrapped up their higher education conference committee Friday with two minutes to spare.

Senate leadership had asked the committee to finish by 4 p.m. to give revisor’s staff enough time to process the final wave of bills expected this weekend. At 3:58 p.m., the committee finished its work reconciling differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, adopting amendments and assembling the final agreement.

Once created, the conference committee report on HF4252*/SF3943, sponsored by Rep. Dan Wolgamott (DFL-St. Cloud) and Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL-Mpls), is expected to receive House and Senate action.

Most of the agreement consists of administrative and technical changes proposed by the Office of Higher Education, especially to the Private School Career Act, which was subject to a 2025 lawsuit, and the Private and Out-of-State Postsecondary Education Act.

Many of those provisions were approved by the committee at its first meeting on Thursday.

On Friday, conferees approved an amendment to address an immediate shortfall in the Fostering Independence Higher Education Grants program. The change would provide $570,000 for the current fiscal year and $1.5 million for the upcoming school year, funded through the Workforce Development Fund.

Rep. Marion Rarick (R-Maple Lake) said legislative leaders OK’d conferees tapping into the fund.

Other funding items adopted by amendment would include $3 million in Fiscal Year 2027 for software to detect and prevent fraud involving so-called “ghost students” and $5,000 for replanting trees at Bemidji State University.

[MORE: View updated spreadsheet, side-by-side summary]

Members also approved amended Senate language expanding anti-discrimination policies for pregnant and parenting students. The provisions — including priority course registration — would apply to all postsecondary institutions, not only public colleges and universities.

Several Senate proposals were left out of the final agreement, including one that would alter the selection process to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, requiring the governor to appoint candidates vetted by the Legislature when a joint convention does not meet.

Also not included were provisions that would update the state’s higher education attainment goal and bar private companies from influencing curriculum at the University of Minnesota Medical School.