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S.F. No. 1303 - Reduced Assigned Family & Student Responsibility for State Grant Calculation
 
Author: Senator Paul T. Anderson
 
Prepared By: Priyanka Premo, Senate Counsel (651/296-3914)
 
Date: March 2, 2017



 

Minnesota’s state grant program provides need-based financial aid to resident undergraduates to attend a public or private postsecondary institution in Minnesota. The Office of Higher Education determines a student’s award amount according to the following formula:

Grant Amount = Cost of Attendance – ASR – AFR – Pell Grants

Under current law, the components of this formula are defined as follows:

  • The cost of attendance is equal to the amount of tuition and fees up to a cap set by the legislature each biennium plus an allowance, also set each biennium, for living and miscellaneous expenses (LME).
  • The assigned student responsibility (ASR) is 50 percent of the cost of attendance.
  • The assigned family responsibility (AFR) is the amount the FAFSA determines a student’s family should contribute toward the student’s education. For the purposes of the state grant, the family responsibility number is multiplied by either 50 percent, 86 percent, or 94 percent for students who are independent, independent without children, or dependent.
  • Pell grant is the federal Pell grant amount for which a student is eligible.

Section 1 reduces the assigned family responsibility for dependent students, independent students with children, and independent children without children.

  • For dependent students, AFR is 86 percent of parental contribution for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, and 76 percent thereafter.
  • For independent students with children, AFR is 76 percent of the student contribution in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, and 66 percent thereafter.
  • For independent students without children, AFR is 40 percent of the student contribution for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, and 30 percent thereafter.

Section 2 reduces the assigned student responsibility to 47 percent in fiscal years 2018 and 2019, and 44 percent thereafter. 

 
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