Dealing wisely with threats to state PSEO law that saves millions for taxpayer and familie

This column originally appeared In  a number of APG of East Central Minnesota newspapers during March, 2026, including the APG Statewide News,  Aitkin Independent Age,  Dakota County Tribune, Faribault Daily News,  Mille Lacs Messenger.   Patriot,  Press & News Sun Current,  Sun Post,    Sun Sailor,  ABC Newspapers,  SunThisWeek, Monticello Times,   Union Times and   Morrison County Record.

 

Dealing Wisely with threats to state law that saves millions for taxpayers & families

 

Here’s a rare, remarkable, and threatened thing – a Minnesota law that saves taxpayers and families millions of dollars each year, with bipartisan support. That law, Post-Secondary Enrollment Options, is 40 years old. It’s been described as “life-changing” by people like Tatum Rios. It’s being challenged at this year’s Minnesota legislature.

Rios shows what PSEO makes possible. She’s a first-generation college student who, through PSEO, earned an A.A. at Inver Hills Community College as she graduated high school. Rios praised an IHCC professor – “who changed my life” – encouraging her to take an engineering course. Rios later earned a degree from the University of Minnesota and a scholarship to MIT. She’s pursuing a PhD in materials science and engineering. She’ll return to Minnesota for a summer 3M internship. “My goal is to build my career in Minnesota long term.”

Tatum Rios (photo courtesy, People for PSEO

Aaliyah Hodge, a PSEO alum, graduate of St Louis Park High School, and another first-generation college graduate, told legislators: “I struggled to obtain clear and accurate information about PSEO…I was told PSEO was essentially the same as AP — it is not. PSEO provides actual college credit through course completion, not just the possibility of credit based on an exam score.” PSEO “fundamentally changed my life trajectory.” She earned a BA from the University of Minnesota at age 19 and a master’s degree from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at 21. She wrote: “When access depends on persistence, advocacy, and insider knowledge, opportunity becomes uneven.”

Aaliyah Hodge (Photo by Joe Nathan)

Beatrice Handlin, a former PSEO student, cited research at a Feb. 23 Senate hearing by a former Minnesota Senate staff member, concluding that PSEO saves taxpayers an estimated $15 million and Minnesota families almost $60 million each year. She also cited research showing that the majority of Minnesota public school districts are not following the law requiring them to provide up-to-date information about PSEO.

 

Beatrice Handlin testifying (photo by Joe Nathan)

LeRoy Swart, a current PSEO student from District 196 (Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan), pointed out that PSEO helps young people with talent, but limited finances to become “doctors, engineers, or lawyers.” He praised the bill for allowing students like him to have their words heard.

Leroy Swart (photo by author)

 

Other young people, such as Rohan Sharma of Wayzata High School and Edina High School graduate Divyesh Thirukonda, cited multiple benefits of PSEO.

Minnesota Association of Secondary Schools Principal Executive Director Robert Driver also endorsed the task force, asking that principals be included. He cited several issues, including the fact that dollars follow students when paying for college tuition, books, and lab fees, “placing real strain on K-12 districts.” He explained that sometimes high schools aren’t aware that a student dropped out of PSEO until late in a term.

This information was shared during a Feb. 23 hearing convened by Sen. Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-Eden Prairie) and Sen. Julia Coleman (R-Waconia). Cwodzinski, chair of the Minnesota Senate K-12 Education Policy Committee, and Coleman, ranking minority member of the committee, made Senate File 2769 one of the first bills the committee heard. The bill wisely creates a task force that includes educators, parents, and students to study PSEO and suggest improvements by May 2027.

Co-authored by Coleman, Sen. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka/Coon Rapids), and chief author (and former PSEO student) Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten (DFL-St Paul), the bill passed and was sent to the Senate Higher Education Committee, where it also passed.

Feb. 23 testimony is available here.

Written testimony is available here,

A similar bill is scheduled for a hearing in a Minnesota House K-12 education committee on March 18. Authors are Rep. Bianca Virnig (DFL-Eagan), Rep. Josiah Hill (DFL-Stillwater), and Rep. Kari Rehrauer (DFL-Coon Rapids).

Though they didn’t testify, Deb Henton, head of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, and Kirk Schneidawind, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Boards, shared similar concerns when I talked with them. They’re recommending that high schools have more power to decide which students can participate, what courses they can take, and that school boards can reduce funds paid to colleges and universities.

Handlin and other PSEO advocates think those changes would, as Handlin told me, “dramatically reduce opportunities for students throughout the state.” They are open to other funding approaches. Full disclosure – I helped write the PSEO law and have helped research, revise and provide testimony about its history.

A statewide task force that includes educators, parents, and students could study and recommend ways to retain the strengths and address any concerns educators expressed. The task force would be a timely, constructive creation.

Joe Nathan, PhD, has been a Minnesota public school educator, PTA president, and researcher for more than 50 years. Reactions welcome: Joe@centerforschoolchange.org