Increasingly, the University is losing talented students to institutions that can offer more attractive financial packages. Minnesota's top high school graduates are recruited heavily by universities outside the state and are offered handsome scholarship and financial-aid packages. Support for internships is also critical, to give students an opportunity for gaining practical experience as they prepare to graduate and begin their careers. Click here to read about one outstanding U of M student. Financial support for graduate and professional students.
Graduate students are essential to a research university.
They conduct experiments and do field research, assist faculty in research and teaching, and facilitate interdisciplinary work. The quality of an institution's graduate students has a direct and substantial impact on the quality and amount of its research. Tuition costs for some graduate and professional students have more than doubled in just the past 10 years. U of M funding to attract and retain graduate and professional students is below that of our peer institutions. As a result, some of the top students are being recruited by other universities.