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A disturbing public policy irony in Minnesota in the past 20 years is that while the economy's demand for more workers with two- and four-year college degrees grew, state government's per-student spending on higher education fell in inflation-adjusted dollars. In 2015, it sat at 14 percent below the national average, compared with 4 percent above in 1995, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.

That's not a sustainable or healthy trend for either this state's prosperity or for the public higher-education institutions Minnesota has built. For the latter, that reality was spelled out last summer in a Minnesota State Colleges and Universities working group report. It said the larger of the state's two public higher-ed systems had come to a financial crossroads. Without remedial action, it would face mounting year-after-year deficits that, under one scenario, would reach $475 million in 2025.

Averting that calamity has become pressing business for Minnesota State's governing trustees, even as they search for a successor to the system's soon-to-retire Chancellor Steven Rosenstone. But responsibility for securing the system's stability must be shouldered as well by the 2017 Legislature, Gov. Mark Dayton's administration and other constituencies that rely on Minnesota State schools to preserve this state's workforce advantage.

Rosenstone deserves credit for not only sounding the alarm, but recommending a plausible remedy. It acknowledges the political and practical reality that raising tuition — one of two main tactics employed in the last 20 years to keep the system in the black — is no longer a good option. Tuition at Minnesota's two-year colleges is already the third-highest in the nation. Even with a generous State Grant Program for low-income students, high tuition deters enrollment, particularly among the low-income minority young people who are the fastest-growing segment of Minnesota's population. Educating those young people is vital to easing a looming shortage of skilled workers.

The other time-honored budget-balancing tactic — cost-cutting — has not been exhausted, Rosenstone said. But cuts have already been substantial, reducing the system's labor force by 10.6 percent over 10 years. The chancellor makes a strong case that further cuts in faculty and staff would hobble Minnesota State's mission.

He offered better ideas: Increase enrollment through stepped-up marketing, easier credit transfers within the system and more assistance to students at high risk of dropping out. Downsize the physical plant. Seek more donations and partnerships with the private sector.

A key step: Align employee compensation increases with the system's yearly revenue increases. More than half the system's employee contracts are negotiated on its behalf by Minnesota Management and Budget — and in recent years, those contracts have produced annual pay increases at a rate more than double that of the system's annual increases in new revenue. That's more variance than the system can handle. Legislative help may be needed to either limit contractual compensation increases or boost Minnesota State's appropriation when the rate of those increases exceeds the system's rate of revenue growth.

All of those things would help, but Rosenstone warns that they won't be sufficient unless the Legislature does its part, too. Minnesota State trustees are seeking a two-year, $178 million increase from the 2017 Legislature, $42 million more than the system received two years ago. With that plea comes an offer: Fully fund our request, and we'll hold tuition flat for two years.

A similar tuition bargain proved persuasive for the University of Minnesota with the 2013 Legislature. But it's riskier when offered by Minnesota State, which unlike the U is not guaranteed autonomy by the state Constitution. The new Republican-controlled Legislature has the authority to order a tuition freeze without meeting the system's funding request.

That may be politically tempting. But legislators — and others who value public higher education — should take the chancellor at his word. With the candor of a lame duck, Rosenstone is saying that his system's 37 colleges and universities cannot stand much more financial pressure and still provide quality, affordable education to nearly 400,000 Minnesotans a year. If the pressure from the Capitol continues, a smaller, weaker Minnesota State system will be the consequence.