About our students

More than 58,000 students attend our 17 colleges and universities. 80 percent of them are undergraduates; 20 percent are graduate students. Three-quarters are Minnesota residents, 12 percent are students of color (see Diversity at our colleges), 60 percent are female, 40 percent are male. Last year our students accounted for 34 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded in the state and 22 percent of graduate degrees.

Our students have benefited from:

• Meaningful contact with professors — the average class size is 19 students, with one professor on staff for every 12 students
• Varied coursework — students receive a multi-disciplinary education, regardless of their major. They are equipped with critical-thinking skills applicable to all career paths.
• Life experiences and workforce preparation — they participate in off-campus study (53 percent), faculty-directed research (52 percent) and internships or other applied learning (51 percent)
• Diverse campuses — students and faculty come from a wide range of backgrounds; all campuses are actively engaged in community-based learning and international education
• A broad array of majors — we award the following share of degrees in Minnesota:
  Bachelor’s degrees
  
  • 49 percent of all physical science degrees
  • 45 percent of all mathematics degrees
  • 41 percent of all health profession degrees
  • 34 percent of all biological and biomedical science degrees
  • 36 percent of all foreign language degrees
  • 35 percent of all visual and performing arts degrees
  • 32 percent of all business degrees
  • 20 percent of all education degrees
  Graduate degrees
  • 38 percent of all master’s degrees in business
  • 33 percent of all master’s degrees in public administration
  • 28 percent of all master’s degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines