Minnesota private, nonprofit institutions and tribal colleges can apply now for funding from the Emergency Assistance for Postsecondary Students (EAPS) competitive grant program. Awarded colleges will receive up to $75,000 per year, per institution, to support their campus's emergency grant programs. Grant funds are intended to meet immediate student needs related to housing, food, and transportation that would otherwise prevent students from completing their term.
Updates made to the EAPS program during the 2023 legislative session provided a total of $3,029,000 to directly support emergency grant programs at the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. There will be $500,000 awarded to private, non-profit and tribal postsecondary institutions on a competitive basis. Click here to learn more and find the Request for Proposals form.
The Intent to Submit Form is due by July 31 and Grant Proposal is due by Aug. 18. If you have questions, contact Lain DeSalvo at Lain.DeSalvo@state.mn.us or (651) 259-3988.
|
EAPS Grant Reviewers Needed
Grant proposals will be reviewed and scored by a panel of community reviewers who have professional or lived experience with basic needs insecurity, youth homelessness, financial aid, low-income student support, and human/social services, among many other content areas. If you are interested in being a community reviewer, please contact Megan FitzGibbon at Megan.FitzGibbon@state.mn.us.
The Minnesota Teacher Shortage Student Loan Repayment Program is currently accepting applications to provide eligible Minnesota teachers with student loan repayment assistance. To receive an award, teachers must be providing classroom instruction in a license shortage area, a rural school district, or belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce.
The application is available until Aug. 31. Selected applicants can receive an award up to $1,000 in loan repayment assistance paid directly to them. Awardees are limited to $5,000 in total repayment assistance.
|
For Minnesota’s economy to thrive, the state must breakdown barriers to opportunity and ensure every person has an equal chance to succeed. This belief is at the core of the state’s P-20 Education Partnership, which was founded in 2009 to increase opportunities for all Minnesotans by creating a seamless system of education from early childhood through postsecondary education and into the workforce.
Now, in an effort to advance the work of this public-private partnership, the State has hired Josiah Litant to serve as the first Executive Director. Under his leadership, the P-20 will develop a strategic roadmap to determine priorities and actions for the next several years, as well as identify collaborations and funding opportunities through regional and national partners to support and advance that work. Since being hired, Litant has already built new collaborations across the country, including with policy strategists and leaders of other P-20 councils. These partnerships will help inform the work in Minnesota and bring effective practices to the state.
|
Following the United States Supreme Court ruling that the Biden Administration does not have the authority to implement its student debt relief plan, the Administration announced new information on student debt relief.
Click here to read Minnesota Office of Higher Education Commissioner Dennis Olson's statement on the U.S. Supreme Court decision on blocking student loan forgiveness.
After three years during which federal student loan borrowers did not have to make any repayments, federal loan payments will restart in October. As a reminder, the ruling affects federal student loans only, while student loans issued by the State and private lenders did not have a pause on payments and interest rate accrual.
If you are a borrower with federal student loans, click to read the Department of Education Frequently Asked Questions webpage about what to do to restart payments and learn about steps to help mitigate negative impacts if you cannot make payments immediately.
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is seeking volunteers to serve as reviewers for the Fiscal Year 2024 Special Education Teacher Pipeline Program grant competition. This is the first competitive grant to be launched in the Minnesota Educational Grant System (MEGS). This grant provides significant funding to develop a pipeline of trained, licensed tier 3 or 4 special education teachers for Minnesota schools.
Grant reviewers serve in a critical role to help MDE identify the strongest applications for approximately $10 million in funding. To volunteer or for assistance with questions, contact Tyler Livingston at tyler.livingston@state.mn.us or 651-582-8427.
|
