Minnesota Financial Aid Stakeholder Feedback
The Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE) is seeking input from students, families, financial aid professionals, and other higher education stakeholders about Minnesota’s financial aid programs. OHE is partnering with Bellwether Consulting in this work. Feedback will be collected via focus groups and surveys.
Your insights will help OHE better understand how students and families experience the state’s financial aid system and identify ways to make it easier to use, more predictable, and more accessible for Minnesotans.
Insights from this study will inform future financial aid system improvements and policy proposals.
What we hope to learn:
- What is working well, and not working well, in Minnesota’s current financial aid system?
- How well do current and future students and families understand Minnesota’s financial aid programs?
- How can we make state financial aid easier to understand?
- What are challenges and opportunities to consider when exploring potential changes?
We are now collecting feedback on financial aid Minnesota and what changes student and families would like to see in any potential redesign.
Let your voice be heard! Take the survey today:
OHE held a webinar about the financial aid redesign project on September 17, 2026.
No. Financial aid programs will stay the same for the 2027 cycle. No significant changes can be made to the existing state financial aid model without the approval of the Minnesota Legislature and Governor.
No, the aim of this project is not to cut funding. The goal is to help make sure that Minnesota’s financial aid programs are stable and predictable, increasing access to higher education for students with financial need.
Yes! We want to hear from all kinds of current and future students, including those who aren’t as familiar with state financial aid programs. Your perspective is valuable to this work.
We are hoping to learn more about what is and isn’t working for families. Programs such as North Star Promise have expanded access to college, but some aspects of the financial aid system can be difficult to understand and predict. We want to better understand these experiences and identify ways to improve programs, processes, and communication.
No, we are not evaluating participants for financial aid suitability and cannot provide expected funding amounts for any individual or family. Participation in any surveys, interviews, and/or focus groups is always voluntary and will have no bearing on a student’s ability to receive financial aid.
For more information on Minnesota financial aid programs, please visit https://ohe.mn.gov/financial-aid-programs.
No. This work is funded through a grant from the Lumina Foundation’s Great Admissions Redesign initiative and is not funded with student financial aid dollars.