The Great Recession was an economic downturn that ranged from December 2007 to June 2009 and was caused by the global financial crisis and the downturn of the U.S. housing market. In this collection, explore how politics and the economy affected higher education in Minnesota and national. Through this curated archival audio, listen to MPR News reporters as they travel to various higher education institutions to talk to college students about how they feel about the economy, meet with families to discuss their financial hardships, and report on what politicians, including President Barack Obama, had to say about the matter.
(This collection was curated by Shandi Burrows, 2023-2024 Archives Fellow)
April 30, 2009 - The ailing economy has taken its toll on summer internships for college students. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Post interview employers who say internships are the first thing to be cut in tough times.
May 5, 2009 - MPR’s Kate Smith is joined by Sandy Baum, Liz Pulliam Weston, and Steven Roy Goodman to discuss if higher education is really worth the cost.
May 18, 2009 - University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Colleges expect big tuition increases.
June 18, 2009 - Hard economic times put pressure on many parents hoping to save money to help their kids pay for college. The trends of parents saving or not for their children’s are mixed in Minnesota.
June 26, 2009 - MPR’s Kerri Miller meets with career counselor Lindsey Pollak and CollegeRecruiter.com founder Steven Rothberg to talk about the struggle recent college graduates are facing with entering into the job market.
July 7, 2009 - Minnesota colleges hope to use early retirement as a way to help balance their budgets. Higher education officials say offering retirement incentives to older employees is a better option than laying off younger workers. But some wonder if early retirement has much appeal in these tough economic times. Tim Post reports.