MN SF4419

Adds transportation as a seventh eligible program of study for workforce development scholarships, joining advanced manufacturing, agriculture, health care services, information technology, and early childhood.

Allows each institution to designate one additional area of study based on regional workforce shortages identified through Department of Employment and Economic Development job vacancy survey data, with the option to change designations every two years.

Defines workforce shortage as occupations where the full-time job vacancy rate in a specific region exceeds the state average vacancy rate for that same occupation.

Requires students to be enrolled in at least nine credits at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities institutions to be eligible for scholarships, specifying two-year colleges for first and second-year scholarships and four-year universities for third-year transfer scholarships.

Maintains resident tuition eligibility requirement for all scholarship recipients.