Minnesota State Colleges and Universities has two requests before the Legislature this session — requests that are directly related to ensuring the success of our students. While it is clear that Minnesota has many, many needs that deserve attention, we believe that there are two pressing challenges that require immediate attention, because failing to address them puts our future economic vitality at risk.

Those challenges are developing the talent Minnesota businesses need to drive the state’s continued economic vitality and eliminating the racial and economic disparities that keep too many Minnesotans from having the opportunity to become that talent.

All across the state we have heard from employers that they have job openings in high-demand fields going unfilled because there aren’t enough men and women prepared with the right skills. As more and more jobs in Minnesota require some post-secondary credentials, if we don’t take action, this talent challenge will become a talent crisis.

The challenge of eliminating racial and economic disparities is closely tied to the talent challenge. With 70 percent of the state’s population growth over the next 25 years coming from communities of color, this is our workforce of the future. If we leave any community behind, we face a number of spiral effects: businesses won’t have the people they need to continue to grow; some businesses will leave the state; we won’t be able to attract others to come here; and the segments of our population who are left behind will be condemned to a life of poverty.

The good news is that we already know the solution to Minnesota’s two most pressing challenges: It’s about education and jobs. Higher education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet to lift people out of poverty and eliminate economic and racial disparities. All of our citizens must have access to the higher education required to fulfill their dreams, support their families and fully contribute to their communities.

For more good news: Our state colleges and universities already provide more than 40,000 graduates every year to Minnesota’s economy. Working to eliminate disparities so that Minnesota can deliver the talent it needs is what our 54 campuses across the state do every day.

Here is the problem: It’s simply not enough. Every single one of our students must graduate with the education needed to prepare them for the work that needs to be done and the opportunity to build a better future. And we — the faculty, staff, presidents and board members of our 37 colleges and universities — can’t do it alone.

This session, we have asked the Legislature for state financing of $206.3 million to be combined with system financing of $48.2 million for projects that will help our colleges and universities develop the talent businesses and communities throughout Minnesota need. Our top priority within this request is $110 million to take care of the buildings and facilities we have. We also have a set of capital projects in nearly 20 communities that will reconfigure and rightsize campus space to increase efficiency and, more importantly, provide campus spaces for academic programs and services that help get students across the finish line to graduation and into careers.

We are grateful for the Legislature’s support of our colleges and universities last session. However, our campuses continue to struggle with how best to serve students, meet the future workforce needs of our state and protect the affordability of our colleges and universities to ensure access for all Minnesotans. Our supplemental budget request of $21 million will protect critical programs and the people who deliver those programs on all our campuses — people like faculty and tutors, academic and financial aid advisers, career and mental health counselors.

These requests are bigger than Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. They directly address the two biggest challenges facing Minnesota. No one does that in a more powerful, effective and efficient way than the people and programs on our campuses.

The stakes are incredibly high for our state. We all have a vested interest in working together to solve the looming talent crisis — and the disparities that are contributing to it — through funding quality, affordable and accessible higher education. We are grateful that the governor and lieutenant governor support our efforts and are confident that the Legislature will, too.

Michael Vekich is chair of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees; Steven Rosenstone serves as chancellor. MnSCU is the public higher-education system with seven universities and 30 colleges serving approximately 400,000 students in 47 communities across the state.