Minnesota's higher education enterprise

It is helpful to think of higher education in Minnesota as comprised of several distinct “systems” integrated into a single whole. The largest are:

• Minnesota’s Private Colleges
• The University of Minnesota
• MnSCU — the Minnesota State College and University system

They represent the three principal higher education institutional groups awarding the baccalaureate and advanced degrees that educate our future leaders and workforce and fuel our economy. Together they represent Minnesota’s higher education “enterprise.”

In 2004-05, 28,949 bachelor’s degrees were awarded by Minnesota higher education institutions. The three not-for-profit systems produced approximately equal numbers of graduates (see chart). A smaller but rapidly growing segment of the overall enterprise includes for-profit institutions, many of which are oriented toward preparation for specific careers.

An integrated system

It is useful to think of this higher education enterprise as an integrated whole for a number of reasons:

• The individual systems are synergistic in their relationship. The public community colleges, for example, often “feed” four-year institutions, and Minnesota’s Private Colleges provide about one third of the number of the baccalaureate graduates that enroll in graduate programs at the University of Minnesota.
• It takes the sum of all of its parts to provide for the diverse needs of prospective students. Great research universities and community colleges, technical schools and liberal arts institutions, small campuses and large, urban and rural — all are necessary to meet the varying educational needs of our populace.
• Both employers and our economy increasingly depend on an educated workforce — and an educated workforce depends on the combined graduates of all of our colleges and universities, public and private. We need the output of every college and university in the state in order to produce the number of educated workers required to remain economically competitive within our country and the world.

The higher education enterprise in Minnesota is strong and diverse. And Minnesota’s Private Colleges are pleased to play an important role in its success.

• The Facts
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