Bipartisan legislation chief-authored by Senator Paul Anderson (R-Plymouth) to protect students negatively impacted by the sudden closure of Argosy University unanimously passed the Minnesota State Senate. The for-profit university suddenly ceased operations, impacting nearly a thousand Minnesota students who were enrolled at the time of closure on March 8, 2019. The bill allows students, who should have received financial aid through several Minnesota state funded aid programs, to access those funds directly as Argosy University had already received some payment on behalf of the students.

“The goal of this legislation is to protect students negatively affected by this closure at no fault of their own,” said Senator Anderson, chair of the Senate Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee. “Argosy University received state financial aid funds, closed their doors, and left the students holding the bill. We aim to help these students through accessing these financial aid awards and relieving their loan liability for courses they physically could not complete.”

The scope of the legislation is limited to the students impacted by the Argosy University closure. However, the bill also requires the Commissioner of Higher Education to report to the legislature suggested changes and safeguards to be implemented to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future.  After also unanimously passing the House of Representatives, the bill now heads to Governor Walz for his signature.