Minnesota State University-Mankato
Minnesota State University-Mankato is located in Mankato, Minnesota. It is a public, 4-year or above institution.
From Wikipedia: Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota’s second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is the second-oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and is commonly referred to as the flagship institution. It was established as the Second State Normal School in 1858 and officially opened as Mankato Normal School a decade later. Minnesota State University, Mankato is a significant contributor to the local and state economies, adding $827 million annually. Across seven colleges and schools, Minnesota State offers over 130 undergraduate programs of study, over 80 master’s programs, and 4 doctoral programs. It hosts Minnesota’s only nationally, regionally, and state accredited aviation program. Students are served by 750 full-time faculty members, creating a 21:1 student-to-faculty ratio. In addition to the main campus, MNSU has two satellite campuses: one in the Twin Cities suburb Edina and one in Owatonna. Through the College of Extended Learning, it provides bachelor’s degrees online and at the Normandale Partnership Center in Bloomington. In 2023, MNSU partnered with Saint Paul College to launch the Minnesota Polytechnic and Applied Learning Institute (MinnPoly), becoming Minnesota’s first polytechnic institute. The Minnesota State Mavericks compete in 21 intercollegiate sports, most at the NCAA Division II level in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Its men’s and women’s ice hockey teams compete at the Division I level, respectively in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
Notes
These are items that bear looking into more closely.
This institution’s six year bachelors graduation rate is 52.6%, so approximately 1/2 of undergrads who enroll do not earn a bachelors degree from here.
This institution’s full-time undergraduate enrollment has tended to decrease over time.
Overview of institution
This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.
Institution kind: Master’s Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs
Undergrad program: Professions plus arts & sciences, some graduate coexistence
Graduate program: Research Doctoral: Professional-dominant
Enrollment profile: Very high undergraduate (see more details below)
Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $16,809 . This is 90% the average cost of Harvard.
Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.
Size and setting: Four-year, large, primarily nonresidential
In state percentage: 77% of first year students come from Minnesota
In US percentage: 92% of first year students come from the US
Graduation rate (within 6 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 52.6% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)
Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 29.7%
Percent of students seeking a Bachelors who transfer out of this institution: 31.1%
Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: 22.3 (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]
Student to faculty ratio: 20.5 (undergrads to all faculty)
Degrees offered: Certificate of less than 1 year, Certificate of at least 12 weeks but less than 1 year, Certificate of at least 1 year but less than 2 years, Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, Postbaccalaureate certificate, Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: research scholarship, Doctor’s degree: professional practice
Schedule: Semester
Institution provides on campus housing: Yes
Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 2887 students
Freshmen required to live on campus: No
Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes
Disabilities: 5.00 percent of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.
Map
Comparisons
The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.
- Minnesota State University-Mankato lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Saint Cloud State University
- Minnesota State University-Mankato compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: Eastern Kentucky University, Grand Valley State University, Western Washington University, Western Kentucky University, University of Northern Iowa, Missouri State University-Springfield, California State University-Chico, Western Illinois University
- These institutions compare themselves to Minnesota State University-Mankato, but not vice versa: James Madison University, University of North Georgia, Appalachian State University, Towson University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott, Minot State University, Winona State University, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, College of Charleston, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, University of Central Arkansas, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, University of Southern Indiana, Augsburg University, Arkansas Tech University, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Concordia University-Saint Paul, Florida Gulf Coast University, Radford University, Black Hills State University, University of Mary, Rasmussen University-Minnesota
Enrollment
General
Teaching
Tenure track faculty are those who are eligible for tenure. This includes both pre-tenure and tenured faculty. Once faculty get tenure, they are (generally) protected from being fired for intellectual reasons, helping to ensure their freedom in teaching and research. They can still lose their positions for misconduct, financial problems, not fulfilling their duties, or other reasons.
Non-tenure track faculty are not eligible for tenure. Some are hired one semester at a time, some have multi-year contracts. They typically have a higher teaching load than tenure track faculty, leaving less time for research or other creative endeavors. They are also easier to fire than tenured faculty. Sometimes they are external experts (a noted musician, a former senator) who are hired to teach some classes without the expected permanence of a tenure-track position.
Note that this chart uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.
Having a low student to faculty ratio is considered a good thing by many, as it can mean more individual attention.
Geography
This has information on the location of the institution. See the about page for more information on what the metrics are and how they are calculated. The goal is to neutrally provide information: for example, some individuals want stringent gun control in an area, some want the opposite: the categories are meant to be descriptive.
Financial Aid
Graduation
Note these are bachelors graduation rates in six years, not four (this is standard). Sample sizes can be small for some demographic groups with few individuals in a school, leading to large year-to-year fluctuations and often extreme values for those groups (if there are two individuals in the class with a given identity, the possible graduation rates are 0%, 50%, or 100% depending on whether zero, one, or both students graduate within six years).
Library
Libraries are changing rapidly. Note that how institutions count digital collections may vary.
Diversity
The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.
Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).
These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.
Overall diversity
Freshman profile
Demographic data for first time degree-seeking students. Note that this uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.
Freshman geography
Test scores
SAT scores
ACT scores
Majors
This presents information on the number of majors and the median earnings one and five years after graduation for people who got a degree from this institution in that field. The earnings are for those who are working and not enrolled in further education. The earnings data (from the federal college scorecard) also has information on earnings for those categorized as ‘MALE’ and ‘NOMALE’ – for readability, these are recategorized here as “Men” and “Women”, respectively, which adopts the gender binary used in other federal data. “W/M earnings ratio” is the median earnings of women divided by men, as a percentage.