Oct 16, 2026 · 34 min · 11 segments
University of Nebraska Board of Regents candidate Justin Solomon is making a major campaign pledge: He won't vote to increase tuition. But with the university facing budget pressures, how would he…
Well, and I even go a step further and say public education really changed my life.
As you mentioned, I'm a product of the Omaha Public Schools, and I was lucky enough growing up in Omaha where I did that.
I had just excellent teachers throughout every stage of life that really molded me and invested in me.
And so I got to go to the University of Nebraska because of really two reasons.
And so I had some academic skill, but I still needed more help to get there and to get through.
When I knock doors, when I go meet people, the one thing I hear almost to a T is, you know, I got a Goodrich scholarship and that's what paved my way.
And
What that tells me and what really motivated me to seek this seat is I think those pathways are becoming smaller and smaller for folks.
The Pell Grant gets you less and less of your education covered day in and day out, and we have to have people in these roles that, one, had that same experience and had the University of Nebraska change their life, but also remember what it was like to have a pathway open to them that maybe their parents or their grandparents didn't have, and they want to protect those things.
I'm in this race because I want the students who shared the same classrooms that I did in the Omaha public schools to have the same opportunity I did.
And I worry that that's not gonna be the case if we don't do something differently.
I've heard you say that the university education is becoming unaffordable for too many Nebraska families.
So how do you accomplish that when the university is facing significant budget pressure?
So I've spent the last 15 years building a company that supports adults with developmental disabilities, and I've grown that from 50 employees in two cities to 1800 employees in three states.
And if you know one thing about Medicaid and sort of the DD world, which Dan, you do, you're always asked to do more with less.
Well, and I even go a step further and say public education really changed my life.
As you mentioned, I'm a product of the Omaha Public Schools, and I was lucky enough growing up in Omaha where I did that.
I had just excellent teachers throughout every stage of life that really molded me and invested in me.
And so I got to go to the University of Nebraska because of really two reasons.
And so I had some academic skill, but I still needed more help to get there and to get through.
When I knock doors, when I go meet people, the one thing I hear almost to a T is, you know, I got a Goodrich scholarship and that's what paved my way.
And
What that tells me and what really motivated me to seek this seat is I think those pathways are becoming smaller and smaller for folks.
The Pell Grant gets you less and less of your education covered day in and day out, and we have to have people in these roles that, one, had that same experience and had the University of Nebraska change their life, but also remember what it was like to have a pathway open to them that maybe their parents or their grandparents didn't have, and they want to protect those things.
I'm in this race because I want the students who shared the same classrooms that I did in the Omaha public schools to have the same opportunity I did.
And I worry that that's not gonna be the case if we don't do something differently.
I've heard you say that the university education is becoming unaffordable for too many Nebraska families.
So how do you accomplish that when the university is facing significant budget pressure?
So I've spent the last 15 years building a company that supports adults with developmental disabilities, and I've grown that from 50 employees in two cities to 1800 employees in three states.
And if you know one thing about Medicaid and sort of the DD world, which Dan, you do, you're always asked to do more with less.
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