Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System
Type Public university system
Established 1995
Chancellor Steven J. Rosenstone
Students 400,000 (credit and non-credit)[1]
Location St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Campus 54 campuses
Colors Black and Gold[2]
         
Website www.mnscu.edu
Wells Fargo Place, the headquarters of the System.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, previously abbreviated as MNSCU,[3] comprises 37 colleges and universities, including 30 two-year colleges and seven state universities, on 54 campuses in 47 communities in the US state of Minnesota. The system is the largest higher education system in Minnesota and is separate from the University of Minnesota system. It is the fifth largest higher education system in the United States, educating over 400,000 students annually.[4] The MnSCU system is led by the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system whom provide policy direction for statewide initiatives.[5] The headquarters of the system are located in the Wells Fargo Place building in St. Paul, Minnesota.[6]

History

In 1991, the Minnesota Legislature issued legislation which founded the creation of the MnSCU system. Through this process the then-existing Minnesota state university system, community college system and technical college system were combined into a single higher education system. This initially was to be accomplished by 1995 but due to statewide opposition it wasn't until 1997 that a Central Office was formed and individual institutions began to operate under centralized direction.

The members of the University of Minnesota could not be compelled by the legislature to be part of MnSCU system because it had sued for independence in the form of constitutional autonomy from legislative oversight. This autonomy was affirmed by the Minnesota Supreme Court after the State of Minnesota was formed and was a response to lobbying demands from a newly formed Alumni Association of the University of Minnesota in the early 19th century.[7]

This difference in independence and power has led to significant differences in the way MnSCU operates and educates students. Through this legislation MnSCU was given the ad-hoc role of educating all students outside of the doctoral research role that the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus provides. In addition, individual university and college members have, by comparison, significantly smaller endowments, and receive less funding from the state government of Minnesota than comparable members of the University of Minnesota system.[8][9] An appropriation by the state of Minnesota was supposed to cover 66% of the cost to educate students, and as of 2014 the state provides about 50%.[10][11]

Operations

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities offer a wide range of collegiate programs from associates degrees to applied doctorates.[12] All of the system's two-year community and technical colleges have an open admissions policy, which means that anyone with either a high school diploma or equivalent degree may enroll.[13] The system also runs an online collaborative called Minnesota Online, which is a gateway to the online course offerings of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. More than 150 academic programs are available completely or predominantly online. About 93,300 students took online courses during the 2009-2010 academic year.[14]

Tuition at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities is lower than tuition at the University of Minnesota, private universities, or private trade schools.[15][16] More than 80 percent of graduates stay in Minnesota to work or continue their education.[17][18] The job-placement rate based on the last available data at two-year colleges is 88.0 percent in 2006, meaning that 88.0 percent of graduates find jobs in their chosen fields.[19]

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has not designated an official flagship institution , however, Minnesota State University, Mankato and Saint Cloud State University have been referred to as the system flagship at various points in time.[20][21][22][23][24]

Member universities and colleges

4-Year State Universities, formerly part by the Minnesota State University system:

2-Year Community and Technical Colleges: [25][26]

References

  1. Vekich, Mikael (27 April 2016). "Vekich, Rosenstone: Addressing Minnesota's 2 biggest challenges" (Online). Saint Paul Pioneer Press Website. Saint Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. MnSCU Identity Standards (PDF). MnSCU. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  3. "Goodbye, MnSCU; hello, Minnesota State". Saint Paul Pioneer Press. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  4. http://www.advancement.mnscu.edu/resources/publications/pdf/2015-16_MnSCU_Viewbook.pdf
  5. http://www.mnscu.edu/board/summary/1996/december-history.html
  6. "Home." Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. Retrieved on February 28, 2012. "30 7th St. E., Suite 350, St. Paul, MN"
  7. "University of Minnesota A Century of Memories" (PDF). University of Minnesota Alumni Association. 2003-01-01. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  8. "2016-17 Governor's Budget, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities" (PDF) (Press release). State of Minnesota. 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  9. "2016-17 Governor's Budget - University of Minnesota" (PDF) (Press release). State of Minnesota. 2015-01-27. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  10. (PDF). MNSCU. 2015-01-20 http://www.senate.mn/committees/2015-2016/3072_Committee_on_Higher_Education_and_Workforce_Development/Reporting%20Requirement%20and%20performance%20measure%20presentation%20Jan%2020%202015%20F%20%20%20.pdf. Retrieved 2015-11-18. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. (PDF). MNSCU. 2015-01-20 http://www.finance.mnscu.edu/budget/docs/FY2013OperatingBudgetJuneBOTRepo.pdf. Retrieved 2015-11-18. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "Academic Program Search". State of Minnesota. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  13. "Admission Requirements". State of Minnesota. 2015-11-01. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  14. "'iCollege' at $199 a class? Idea may appeal, but Pawlenty knows e-learning is neither cheap nor easy". MinnPost Paper. 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  15. "College Cost Comparison". State of Minnesota. 2015-11-01. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  16. "Go MN: Your 2013-2014 Guide to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities" (PDF). State of Minnesota. 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  17. (PDF). MNSCU. 2015-01-20 http://www.finance.mnscu.edu/budget/docs/FY2013OperatingBudgetJuneBOTRepo.pdf. Retrieved 2014-09-26. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. (PDF). MNSCU. 2010-01-01 http://www.advancement.mnscu.edu/resources/publications/pdf/2010_amazingfacts.pdf. Retrieved 2014-09-26. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. (PDF). The Office of the Legislative Auditor of Minnesota. 2006-01-01 http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/mnscu.pdf. Retrieved 2015-11-28. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. "President Davenport responds to Free Press questions". Mankato Free Press. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  21. "Making a monetary mark: economic impact". Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  22. Debra Leigh (29 February 2012). "MSR Readers: Make your own judgment on the state of St. Cloud State" (Newspaper). Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  23. Jeff Johnson (4 December 2014). "MnSCU enrollment projections". LetFreedomRingBlog. Let Freedom Ring Blog and Periodical. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  24. Bies, Jessica (17 August 2015). "Davenport: MSU excelling as flagship university". The Mankato Free Press Website. The Mankato Free Press. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  25. Archived December 12, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  26. "MnSCU College Search: Begin your search". MnSCU.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
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