ST. PAUL, Minn. – In bids to address sagging enrollment, the Minnesota State college system waived the $20 application fees at all campuses, including Winona State and Southeast Tech. The no-fee period runs through October. College application fees have been common for a century nationwide to discourage high school students from cluttering college admissions apparatuses with frivolous applications. In another bid to enhance enrollment, the Minnesota State system asked its seven universities and 30 colleges to schedule open houses in October and provided them with boilerplate announcements for local media distribution. Locally:
> Winona State: October 6 and 21-23 in person and virtual.
> Southeast Tech: October 19 and 21.
Minnesota State slippage
Grads, undergrads and high school cross-enrollees
2010: 467,700 students
2011: 457,200
2012: 453,100
2013: 440,600
2014: 433,900
2015: 427,800
2016: 427,100
2017: 421,700
2018: 416,700
2019: 413,400
2020: 405,800