EVERY FIFTEEN DAYS
Updates from The Office of Higher Education twice a month

MN Reconnect Ending on June 30

The MN Reconnect Program is ending today, June 30, 2021, as funding from the Minnesota Legislature will no longer be available.

Since 2018, the MN Reconnect program has been helping adult Minnesotans, ages 25 to 62, re-enroll in college to finish their education through special services and benefits tailored to the needs of adult learners, including:

• A personal advisor trained to help returning adults be successful
• Up to $1,000 to release financial holds that prevent re-enrollment
• Career planning
• Academic planning
• Accelerated degrees
• Credit for prior Learning
• Online and in-person tutoring
• Emergency financial assistance

The program, which started as a pilot in the fall of 2018, expanded from four participating Minnesota State Colleges to nine postsecondary institutions in 2020. Through MN Reconnect, these participating institutions sought to maximize the success of adult students by addressing not only academic issues but social and basic needs such as childcare, transportation, employment, food, and financial issues, that can make all the difference in education outcomes.

MN Reconnect was developed by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education in partnership with Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and with the financial and technical support from Lumina Foundation and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). The program received funding from the Minnesota Legislature for the 2019-2021 biennium.

Intervention for College Attendance Grants

Applicants for the Intervention for College Attendance Grants will soon be notified of their awards! The Legislature created the grant to support eligible nonprofit organizations, postsecondary institutions, school districts, and professional organizations that actively support youth of color, students from low-income families, and students who will be the first in their family to go to college.

The Legislature has allocated $715,000 more this biennium to support these grants, so the Officer of Higher Education will be able to provide more funds to organizations who directly support youth in our communities.

Forward Together: Engaging Leaders in an Effort to Skill-Up Minnesotans

After more than a year of challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesota is looking forward to a brighter future, with increased opportunity for all Minnesotans to skill-up, earn a college credential, and improve their economic outlook. Forward Together, OHE’s collaborative initiative focused in increasing the number of adults enrolling in and completing an education or training program in Minnesota, is activating an Ambassador Program to recruit passionate individuals and committed organizations to help achieve the initiative’s goals. You can learn more about this collaborative initiative and get involved on the Forward Together website.

Forward Together was originally created to help achieve the state’s legislatively mandated higher education attainment goal, which is to get 70 percent of Minnesotans within each racial and ethnic community, ages 25-44, to obtain a postsecondary certificate or higher by 2025. Now in partnership with other agencies and programs, Forward Together seeks to increase the number of adults, specifically Black, indigenous, and persons of color, enrolling in and completing an education or training program.