Sortable List of Minnesota Colleges

A basic list of Minnesota colleges starts with 33 4-year institutions with 500 or more full-time undergraduates. Skip to the end of the article for information to help you start your research to find the best colleges in Minnesota to meet your needs. The list includes information on college tuition costs in Minnesota as well as college endowment data.

For those looking for a more urban feel or at least easy access to urban amenities, over half of all Minnesota colleges are located in the Twin Cities Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The metro area population is just under three million people and is headquarters for Target, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, Best Buy, U.S. Bancorp, and General Mills among others.

Overall, the list of Minnesota colleges has 21 private institutions and 12 public universities. The three largest Minnesota colleges are the Universities of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Mankato, and Duluth. St. Thomas is the largest private school that ranks fourth in the undergraduate population, followed by Saint Cloud University, a public institution.

There are nine colleges classified as Liberal Arts Colleges. Six are Doctoral/Professional Universities with only one classified as having Very High Research Activities, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. The University of Minnesota-Rochester is listed as a special focus health professions school. It was founded in 2006 and serves as a liberal arts type experience for health care. Its location in Rochester takes advantage of the Mayo Clinic resources.

Costs of Minnesota Colleges

A total of seven schools had a total cost of attendance in 2020-21 of over $60,000. The most expensive was Carleton College at over $77,000. Macalester College was the only other school over $70,000. The next three colleges ranked by cost were St. Olaf, University of St. Thomas, and College of Saint Benedict. Despite the high total cost of attendance, the highest average net price was only $35,589 for Macalester College. Only two other colleges had average net prices over $30,000, University of St. Thomas and Carleton College.

Among public institutions, The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has the highest total cost of attendance at $28,827 in 2020-21, followed by the University of Minnesota-Rochester, and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. All of the public institutions had average net prices under $20,000, with the University of Minnesota-Morris costing only an average of $11,147 after gift aid.

Minnesota Colleges Acceptance Rates

The list of Minnesota colleges has a wide range of acceptance rates. However, only three schools had acceptance rates less than 50%. Carleton College had the lowest at 21%, followed by Macalester College at 39%, and Crown College at 47%. Among public institutions, Metropolitan State University accepted the lowest percentage of students at 62%. The University of Minnesota-Morris was second with 65% and Minnesota State University Moorhead with 66%.

Best Minnesota Colleges by Test Scores

The five best Minnesota colleges by ACT scores had 75th% scores of 30 or higher. Carleton College had a 34, Macalester College was second with a 33, St. Olaf had a 32, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities was fourth with a 31 and Gustavus Adolphus College had a 30. As for SAT scores, Carlton college had the highest 75th% scores at 1520. The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities was second with a 1460 and Macalester College was third with 1450. Another five schools had reported scores over 1300.

Best Minnesota Colleges by Graduation Rates

Over half of Minnesota colleges had four-year graduation rates of 50% or better. The national 4-year college graduation rate average is less than 40%. Four schools had graduation rates over 80% with Carleton College and Macalester tying at 88% followed by St. Olaf College and the College of Saint Benedict. Another three schools had 4-year graduation rates over 70%, Gustavus Adolphus, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and University of St. Thomas. A total of 20 colleges in Minnesota qualify as 50-50 schools. They admit at least 50% of applicants and graduate at least 50% of students.

Minnesota College Endowments

Not surprisingly, the schools with the highest average Endowment per Student in Minnesota are all private. Carleton College had the highest with $435,218, followed by Macalester, St. Olaf, Saint Johns, and Gustavus Adolphus. The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities had the highest average endowment per student among public institutions and ranked sixth in the state. Only the top four schools had averages over $100,000.

List of Minnesota Colleges

The following is a list of Minnesota Colleges with at least 500 full-time undergraduates.