Students at the University of Minnesota will face the largest tuition hike in more than a decade despite leaner operations this fall across all of the school’s campuses and colleges.

Meanwhile, a flurry of long-awaited maintenance and construction projects will include new suicide prevention barriers along the Washington Avenue bridge in Minneapolis.

A 6.5% tuition hike for state residents enrolled in the Twin Cities campuses will arrive hand-in-hand with a 7% spending cut, or “scope reduction,” to both academic and non-academic programs across the University’s school and colleges, according to U president Rebecca Cunningham, who presented the final 2026 budget this week to the University’s Board of Regents.

In-state students will now pay $16,132 per year, up from about $15,100, while non-resident undergraduates will see tuition grow 7.5% and pay $39,018 per year. Tuition increases at the Duluth campus will be milder. U officials said inflation and federal funding cuts necessitated the hikes, which are the largest tuition increases since 2011.

The University will not receive any new state funding for general operations “for the first time in decades,” Cunningham said, even as more than $40 million in cuts “and rising” are being handed down from the federal government.

“We can all agree there are no easy choices this year,” she said, addressing the board. “Higher education is truly facing unprecedented challenges. The University of Minnesota is not immune, and therefore we have to make difficult decisions.”

Financial aid kicks in

Despite the tuition increase, the state’s North Star Promise program and other sources of financial aid will heavily buffer the impact for families earning less than $110,000, U officials said.

As a result, families earning less than $80,000 may not see a net increase at all in both tuition and fees.

Once other sources of aid are exhausted, the state-funded North Star Promise aims to cover “last dollar” gaps in tuition assistance for low-income students enrolled in Minnesota state colleges and universities, tribal colleges and the University of Minnesota.

“Our least-resourced students will not see this tuition increase in their tuition bill,” Cunningham said. “Our students … are paying 3% less in real dollars than they were paying a decade ago. … We do not have run-away tuition, as we do in many other parts of the country.”

Regents vote on budget, tuition hike

Expressing concern over what they described as an unprecedented fiscal climate, the Board of Regents voted 9-3 to approve the 2026 operating budget of $5.1 billion on Wednesday, as well as funding for $194.6 million in capital improvements.

The U will dip into its central reserves for $60 million to support a Strategic Investment Fund, while leaving programmatic “scope reductions” to the individual deans and leaders of each school, college and unit.

“The new strategic plan isn’t done yet,” said Regent James Farnsworth, in an interview. He cast a dissenting vote after expressing concern about the tuition hikes, as well as cuts disproportionately impacting academic programs rather than administrative spending, and what he deemed a lack of “collaboration and communication” with impacted units.

“My biggest concern is about the proposed tuition increase, and what that means for families who may already be stretched thin,” said Regent Bo Thao-Urabe, who also cast one of the three dissenting votes. “Certainly, I know this is a very complex moment for the University, with no easy choices.”

Regent Mary Turner noted that demands for student services, including disability services, have ballooned over the decades, as have the University’s contributions to cutting-edge medical and scientific research, even as state support has dropped with time.

“In the late ’70s, ’80s … our state government funded us up to 60%,” said Turner, who voted to support the new budget. “What did we get this year? Nothing.”

Construction on campus

Also approved this week, the University’s capital improvement budget relies on $60 million from the recently-approved $700 million state bonding bill for facility work, as well as another $8 million from Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Council for permanent suicide prevention barriers along the Washington Avenue bridge.

The state funding will allow the U to complete long-deferred maintenance across all of its campuses, said Gregg Goldman, the executive vice president for Finance and Operations, addressing the board.

Otherwise, “we’re asking every campus, college and unit to do more with less,” he said.

Major construction projects in the capital improvement budget include:

• Solar panels across multiple locations on the Twin Cities campus ($25.4 million).

• Betty’s Apple House, a new apple house at the Landscape Arboretum, funded entirely by philanthropic gifts ($23.4 million).

• Safety railings on the Washington Avenue bridge, funded by Hennepin County and the Met Council ($8 million).

Strategic planning initiatives

Despite overall cost-cutting, Cunningham said the new budget sets aside “modest” one-time funding for strategic planning initiatives, which are still being developed.

Three likely examples, she said, include investments in artificial intelligence, “the revitalization of the St. Paul campus” and student wellbeing.

“One cannot cut toward the future,” Cunningham said. “While we make cuts, we must also make investments toward the future.”

The U also plans to take steps toward growing student recruitment online and nationally while preparing for its next capital campaign, Goldman said.

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Twins starting pitcher Chris Paddack had a message for all lending an ear after Minnesota’s 12-5 win in Cincinnati on Thursday afternoon.

“Make sure y’all vote Buck for the All-Star game,” he told reporters.

Byron Buxton’s current play certainly deserves such a stage.

The Twins’ center fielder homered in each of the first two innings to help snap Minnesota’s six-game losing streak and bring the club back to .500 on the year (37-37). For the second straight game, Buxton opened the proceedings with a leadoff home run.

And for the second straight game, Minnesota’s starting pitcher relinquished the 1-0 advantage by surrendering a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. That spelled doom for the Twins on Wednesday, as the offense outside dried up in a 4-2, rain-shortened defeat.

But as Paddack returned to the dugout after giving up those runs on Thursday, Buxton came over and told him, “Keep us right there, and we’ll be just fine.”

He wasn’t lying.

Kody Clemens turned hard on a ball and kept it inside the right field foul pole to put Minnesota back up 3-2 in the second frame. Next up was Buxton. He delivered the same result, and suddenly it was 4-2 Twins.

There was no slowing down the Minnesota bats on this occasion. The Twins chased Reds starter Nick Martinez midway through the third frame, putting seven earned runs on his ledger before his exit.

Minnesota scored multiple runs in the second, third and fourth innings, and led 9-4 through three and a half frames.

“Guys were seeing it well, a lot of crooked numbers there in the first four innings,” Paddack said. “So, definitely getting some run support early as a starter, it takes a little stress off your shoulders where you can go out there, compete, be aggressive in the zone.”

Paddack noted Thursday was perhaps the most fatigued he’d been all season, calling it a “grinding” start. He said Cincinnati features a low-sloped mound that makes it feel as though “we’re throwing on flat ground.” So, he didn’t have the same velocity and bite on his stuff.

But he and catcher Ryan Jeffers adjusted and devised a plan to be aggressive early in counts against the Reds’ patient hitters and pound the lower half of the zone. Paddack (3-6) threw scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth innings to earn the win.

“Walking off the mound with Rocco shaking my hand,” Paddack said, “it definitely was a positive.”

As was the entire day for a team that’s struggled so mightily of late. Minnesota had dropped 10 of its last 12 contests entering Thursday’s bout, effectively erasing its previous hot stretch of play.

Frustrations were seemingly let out with each swing in the matinee. The Twins tallied a whopping 17 hits. Everyone who stepped to the plate for Minnesota on Thursday recorded at least one. Carlos Correa went 3 for 5. Jeffers — who also homered — Clemens and Ty France also had multi-hit outings.

“We were relentless early in the game, and then we stayed on it and had some good at bats throughout the game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters. “We continued to put ourselves in a good position to score a bunch of runs. Great day for the offense and, overall, just a lot of positives.”

It was Buxton leading the charge.

He tacked on a double to go with his two home runs as his torrid pace at the plate continues to pair beautifully with his heroics in the outfield.

“He’s been in a good, relaxed place. You might call it ‘the zone,’” Baldelli said. “Whatever you want to call it, he’s playing great. Seeing the ball good. Had another good day at the plate. Swinging at good pitches, really attacking and barreling them up. Just another incredible effort.”

Buxton has homered in each of his last three games. Over the last 10 days, his batting average has spiked from .258 to .280.

“He’s played a lot of games where he’s just taking over the game. He’s doing a lot of the heavy lifting, and he likes it. I think it fires him up. His teammates are fired up, too, watching it,” Baldelli said. “But he’s exuding a lot of confidence right now. It takes a lot for him to do that, because he’s kind of a reserved guy in some ways, but I think he’s loving the way he’s playing right now, and I’m loving the way he’s playing right now.”

Buxton is breathing life into a Twins’ team that was in major need of a jolt. He provided one. Now, the challenge is to keep the electricity pumping as Minnesota returns home for a seven-game homestand, which opens Friday against Milwaukee.

“We played some tight ballgames on the trip. I’m fine grabbing the win today, getting on the “Overall, some things that we want to do better, something that we did well. We’ve got some guys playing well right now,” Baldelli said. “We should just ride today’s momentum into tomorrow and get back to work.”

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By DAVID BAUDER

In the early days of Israel’s attack on Iran, U.S.-operated Radio Farda, which broadcasts in the Persian language in Iran, debunked a state media report that an Israeli pilot had been shot down and captured.

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Its journalism has continued despite the Trump administration’s threat to its future, along with a Persian-language television outlet run by Voice of America.

Radio Farda, a branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and based in Prague, has continued broadcasting even though its managing editor estimated that more than half of its staff had been furloughed. VOA’s Persian staff, ordered to go on administrative leave in March, was suddenly ordered back to work Friday afternoon.

“We’ve been giving information to Iranians minute by minute about the conflict,” said Golnaz Esfandiari, managing editor of Radio Farda. That includes explanatory stories about Iran’s nuclear program and short videos posted on social media, she said.

Several Iranians have contacted the radio network to express appreciation for reporting that they do not get on Iranian state media, she said. Traffic to its website was up 77% on Friday compared with the 30-day average. At the same time, families in Iran of five Radio Farda staff members have been pressured by people in the government who want to see the broadcasts stopped, she said.

Through the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the Trump administration has sought to dismantle or sharply curtail the government-funded outlets that provide news reports to countries where there isn’t a tradition of free press. The administration says these services operate with a liberal bias.

Both Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are fighting the efforts in court.

Employees at Voice of America’s Persian service were notified in an email Friday from Crystal Thomas, the U.S. Agency for Global Media’s human resources director, that they were being recalled and needed to report to work immediately.

Kari Lake, who is running that agency, told Fox News that “we are ramping up — as we’ve always planned to do — to meet this historic moment.”

One person who got that email was at the office within three hours and worked until midnight, helping to put out a one-hour broadcast, said the employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak to the press. About 50 people have returned to work. Voice of America is banned in Iran, but many of its citizens find ways through the internet to bypass the ban.

Voice of America’s broadcasts — and social media posts — have become a challenge to produce because the administration has canceled subscriptions to news services like The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse, said a second employee, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

For the employees, it’s a stressful time, putting out urgent news reports without any sense of how long — or whether — they will continue to have a job.

“I’m grateful they’ve brought back our Persian service to continue their role as a trusted voice covering the region for the Iranian people,” said Patsy Widakuswara, VOA’s White House correspondent, who is a plaintiff in the court fight to keep the agency alive.

“But why smash a working system only to cobble it back together when you realize you need it?” Widakuswara asked. “And how many crises would it take for them to realize that all VOA language services are important — before, after and during breaking news?”

During video reports posted online this week, a Voice of America anchor explained where Iranian counterattacks were landing in Israel, and how Iranians were trying to send out information about what is happening through social media.

The danger for a service like VOA, having been off the air and off social media for more than two months, is that Iranian citizens will become accustomed to looking elsewhere for news, said Tom Kent, a media consultant and former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

“You would hope that people would learn from this that international broadcasting cannot be turned on and off like a lightbulb,” said Kent, also a former AP editor.

Despite an Israeli airstrike on its headquarters Monday while the Republic of Iran News Network was broadcasting live, the state-run news service is still operating.

Radio Farda has stayed on the air despite cutbacks. It also continues to have access to news services like the AP, but those contracts will expire at the end of the month, Esfandiari said. Three people have been brought back from furlough to help cover the war, she said.

She said she hopes the conflict lets people who question the service’s existence know its value.

“It’s an information war, absolutely,” Esfandiari said. “These countries — Iran, Russia and China — would be very happy if we were gone.”

One of the VOA employees called back to work said they have not been told how long it will be for. Despite evidence this week that someone in the administration saw value in what they do, might they still lose their job eventually?

“I don’t want to think about that,” the person said.

This story has been corrected to reflect the name of Radio Farda’s managing editor, Golnaz Esfandiari, not Golnaz Esfandiani.

The Associated Press’ Jon Gambrell and Kamran Jebreili contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

The first big heat wave of the season will hit the Twin Cities this weekend, with temperatures of up to 97 degrees and heat index values of 105 to 110 expected.

An extreme heat warning will be in effect from noon Saturday to 9 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures on Saturday will be in the mid 70s to lower 80s overnight.

“We probably won’t be getting any relief from the heat, including at night, until we get into Monday and a cold front moves through,” said meteorologist Tyler Hasenstein of the National Weather Service’s Twin Cities office.

For people without access to air conditioning, these overnight temperatures don’t give their body enough time to recover from the heat of the day, making it difficult to stay cool and hydrated, Hasenstein said. He recommended cold beverages, cold foods and anything frozen to help bring down body temperatures overnight.

During the day, cooling centers like libraries and rec centers are open to help the public escape the dangerous heat. People can look up which cooling centers are nearest to them in Ramsey, Dakota and Hennepin counties.

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