10 reasons Minnesota needs private colleges

The Minnesota Private College Council's 17 member institutions have a long history of meeting the needs of the state and its residents, starting before the state itself was founded. Here’s a quick list of how we are helping Minnesota today.

Reason 1: Delivering the Best Graduation Rates

• Sixty-one percent of our bachelor’s degree-seeking students graduate within four years and 71 percent graduate within six years — the highest rates in the state.
• Our students earned 8,962 bachelor degrees — about one-third of all baccalaureate degrees in the state — and 4,196 graduate degrees.

Reason 2: Meeting the Demand for Science and Technology Graduates

• The private colleges award one-third of all baccalaureate degrees in Minnesota, including:
  • 49 percent of all physical science degrees
  • 45 percent of all mathematics degrees
  • 39 percent of all biological and biomedical degrees
  • 41 percent of all health profession degrees
  • 28 percent of the combined science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines
• One-third of students pursuing masters and doctoral degrees at the University of Minnesota completed their undergraduate education at a Minnesota private college.

Reason 3: Educating Andrea, Antonio and Amun

• Minnesota’s private colleges enrolled 58,598 students in fall 2007.
  • One in five college students in Minnesota attends one of our institutions.
  • One in ten private college students is a student of color.  

Reason 4: Attracting Brain Power

• As an importer of undergraduate students, we attract more international students and more students from other states than do either the state universities or the University of Minnesota.
• Two-thirds of our graduates, regardless of their "home" state, stay in Minnesota, adding to the state’s skilled workforce and tax base.

Reason 5: Connecting Minnesota and the World

• More than 8,000 students from Minnesota study abroad each year.  Fifty-seven percent of those students do so through programs at Minnesota’s private colleges.
• 1,600 international students study at our institutions.
• China is fast becoming one of Minnesota’s leading educational partners. Sixteen of our member institutions have study abroad programs to China facilitating educational partnerships among students and faculty.
• The Concordia Language Villages, a program of Concordia College, hosts more than 13,000 participants, most aged 7-18 for immersion language experiences in 14 languages. 

Reason 6: Giving Back to Local Communities

More than just buildings and books, Minnesota’s private colleges contribute to the strength and vitality of Minnesota communities.

• More than 9,000 Minnesota Private College students provided 167,000 hours of community service during the 2005-2006 academic year.
• More than 1,400 high school students enrolled in college courses at a Minnesota Private College through post secondary enrollment programs in 2005-2006.
• Faculty and staff participate as volunteers, coaches, advocates and professional resources in our communities.

Reason 7: Challenging Economic Disparities

• More than 25 percent of private college students come from families with incomes less than $50,000 — about the same proportion as the state’s public four-year colleges and universities.
• Minnesota’s Private Colleges enroll a higher percentage of low-income students who have qualified for Pell Grants as a share of all undergraduate students than the University of Minnesota.
• Minnesota State Grant recipients at Minnesota’s Private Colleges, who begin college financially disadvantaged compared to their peers, achieve similar income and employment levels one year following graduation.

Reason 8: Investing in Minnesota and Minnesotans

• Minnesota’s private colleges contributed more than $1.14 billion to Minnesota’s economy through institutional spending in 2005-2006.  The expenditures of our colleges generate business for property owners, restaurants, retailers, automotive dealers, hotels, construction companies and virtually every type of business enterprise in the state.
  • Capital construction expenditures totaled $107 million in fiscal year 2006.
  • Gross payroll expenditures exceeded $624 million in fiscal year 2006.
• Our institutions provide more than $253 million in student grants and scholarships each year — three times more than all government financial aid programs combined.

Reason 9: Providing Jobs

• In addition to increasing the level of business activity, Minnesota’s private colleges provide jobs for nearly 13,000 faculty and staff. We also provide work-study or employment for more than 17,000 students. 
• We are a major employer for seven communities in the state: Duluth, Moorhead, Northfield, St. Joseph, St. Paul, St. Peter and Winona.
• In addition, the institutions and their employees, students and visitors generate economic activity which creates thousands of "spin-off" jobs in other sectors of Minnesota’s economy.

Reason 10: Saving Taxpayers Money

• Minnesota’s private colleges save taxpayers more than $218 million each year in institutional subsidies that would otherwise be required to enroll an equivalent number of students in public colleges and universities.
• While our graduates earned about one-third of all baccalaureate degrees granted in the state in 2006-2007, the state's investment in them was less than three percent of all state spending on higher education.

Minnesota is a better place thanks to the more than 250,000 Minnesota private college alumni living, working and contributing to our state.

Updated Jan. 7, 2008