Your gift makes a difference

Gifts given to the Minnesota Private College Fund help keep our member colleges vital and accessible to all qualified students. Gifts to the Fund are gifts which ensure a strong and bright future for our state.

Your gift...

Benefits Minnesota

By supporting the Fund, farsighted businesses and foundations are acting in their own best interests and the best interests of their communities. Every gift educates future employees and citizens, provides financial support to hardworking and deserving students, and continues the colleges’ strong tradition of excellence.

Is good for the economy

Gifts to the Fund are an investment in Minnesota. As one of the state’s largest employers, our colleges infuse more than $800 million annually into the economy. Our graduates are the state’s skilled workforce and tax base:

• College graduates earn 73 percent more money over their lifetimes than high school graduates
• 46 percent of the state’s math and science majors and 41 percent of Minnesota’s business students graduate from our institutions
• Our alumni earn 43 percent of all health profession degrees awarded in the state
• Over two-thirds of recent private college alumni work in Minnesota, making valuable contributions to the state's economic health and quality of life
• Nearly one quarter of all of our alumni pursue graduate level education and obtain advanced degrees or certification immediately upon earning their bachelor’s degree

Responds to our changing workforce

The landscape and demographics of Minnesota are changing rapidly, but the value we place on quality education remains steadfast. We know that the development of a strong and diverse workforce is needed for our state’s economy to be successful. Minnesota’s private colleges and universities already have the equation for success:

• Students of color represented 11 percent of new students in fall 2005.
• More than one third of our undergraduates are low-income, as measured by Pell or State Grant eligibility.
• In fall 2005, we enrolled nearly three-fourths of all new full time undergraduate students from non-reciprocity states, and 82 percent of all new international students.

Makes good business sense

Companies throughout our state are looking for the highly-skilled, technologically savvy liberal arts graduates that we produce. Why? Our graduates are flexible employees with strong communication, language and analytical skills. They have the critical thinking skills that are necessary to thrive in today’s fast-paced business climate.