Ideas for system's budget cuts include shared leadership, regional centers - Josh Verges, Mankato Free Press

A bloated curriculum, underprepared students and underutilized facilities are driving major budget problems for the state's public higher education system. Addressing those three challenges will take time, but each could save the system tens of millions of dollars each year, a 24-member task force told the system's governing board Tuesday. Chancellor Steven Rosenstone last fall called for significant spending cuts because of declining state funding. Minnesota State projects its annual deficit will grow to between $66 million and $475 million by 2025 with no action. "Sitting around and talking for a couple of years only makes the problem worse," Rosenstone said. The group said it would take a matter of months to start marketing the institutions together rather than competing for students and to increase post-secondary enrollment classes for high schoolers. http://www.mankatofreepress.com/region/ideas-for-system-s-budget-cuts-include-shared-leadership-regional/article_41f37b54-aded-5650-8813-899d50794edc.html