Minnesota Should Cut Tuition For Minnesotans

In recent years, both the University of Minnesota system and the North Dakota University System decided to keep out-of-state tuition low. The policy creates more vibrant and cosmopolitan campuses by drawing out-of-state students, many of whom wind up staying after graduation.

But there's a difference: The North Dakota system also keeps tuition for North Dakota residents comparatively low.

The University of Minnesota, in contrast, let tuition for in-state residents rise at the same time as it dropped the cost for out-of-staters. As a result, students, parents, lawmakers and just about everyone else are fretting that the U is favoring nonresidents at resident students' expense.

That should change -- and soon. The U has gotten a couple of very public black eyes in the past few weeks. This is one, and the sooner the university goes about rebalancing its prices in residents' favor, the better.