North Star Promise report provides insight into potential student workforce development in Greater MN communities

Recently, the Office of Higher Education released a preliminary report about the North Star Promise program from the 2024-25 school year. The North Star Promise program served 53,567 students during the 2024-25 school year. The North Star Promise provides scholarships to Minnesota residents with an adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less to attend a public college, university, or Tribal college in the state. This program covers any remaining tuition costs for students after they have accessed other available tuition assistance programs.

It's worth taking a look at the preliminary data included in the report, which lists the number of eligible students who used the North Star Promise to attend higher education institutions and which institution they attended. It was notable in the report that out of the 40 eligible institutions, only one, Leech Lake Tribal College, had no eligible students attend through the North Star Promise program. Instead, colleges and universities across the state had hundreds—if not thousands—of students attend schools from Alexandria to Winona, and Crookston to Moorhead. The program appears to have given students the opportunity to upskill and reskill and provide a pipeline for employers to hire newly skilled workers while allowing students to gain those skills from higher-education institutions located in Greater Minnesota communities throughout the state. When this program was established, it wasn't clear what impact it might make in Greater Minnesota communities for the workforce or these critical higher-education institutions. With this preliminary report and the ongoing legislative appropriations for this program, this program seems to create an opportunity to address Greater Minnesota workforce needs by investing in students and key institutions that can prepare them to meet the needs of their communities.

The final report on the North Star Promise program's use for the 2024-25 school year is due on February 15, 2026. That report is expected to include additional data around student retention and graduation rates, as well as more details about how this program is impacting the overall student enrollment at eligible institutions. Look for a clearer picture of this program's initial school year of impacts in Greater Minnesota when the final report is released.