Minnesota schools to receive $38 million from Permanent School Fund

By the Minnesota Office of School Trust Lands

The Minnesota Department of Education will distribute $38 million in spendable income from the Permanent School Fund (PSF) during the 2022-2023 school year to the state’s public school districts, academies and charter schools.

Article XI, Section 8, of the Minnesota Constitution states that “the net interest and dividends arising from the (permanent school) fund shall be distributed to the different school districts of the state in a manner prescribed by law.” Twice a year, on March 15 and September 15, the State Board of Investment certifies the interest and dividends earned from the fund. The Department of Education then allocates funds in the School Endowment Fund to school districts in two semiannual payments based on “the number of pupils in average daily membership during the preceding year.”

Search for this year’s distributions by school district using an interactive web map.

The PSF market value decreases: The principal (or “corpus”) of the Permanent School Fund (PSF) consists of revenue generated from activities on school trust lands. The Minnesota Constitution prohibits the principal from being spent—the state must hold it in trust forever. The State Board of Investment invests the principal to produce a growing level of spendable income in a balanced portfolio of common stocks and bonds. Common stocks provide the potential for significant capital appreciation, while bonds provide portfolio diversification and a stable income stream.

Due to losses in the overall stock market, the value of the Permanent School Fund’s financial assets decreased from $1.94 billion to $1.74 billion as of June 30, 2022. Despite this decline, the fund value has increased by 7.6% over the past 10 years.

View the latest State Board of Investment PSF performance report here.

Visit https://mn.gov/school-trust-lands to learn more about the Minnesota School Trust Lands.