Education News

MPR News keeps track of the latest education news in Minnesota so you can understand the events shaping the future of learning and how it impacts students at any level.

Stay informed about local education events, policies and more happening in schools and colleges across Minnesota.

Where Winona State will be holding classes next year
All you students at lazy-river universities can’t beat this: Winona State University is getting a floating classroom next spring. The Dr. Calvin R. Fremling Floating Interpretive Center and Classroom is a boat that will seat 49 and offer classes and events focused on biology, science and the environment. WSU had a houseboat that also served…
Why some UMN ed students don’t want Teach for America
About 180 students, alumni and teachers have signed a petition explaining why they don’t want the University of Minnesota to engage in a proposed partnership with Teach For America: “We believe that this partnership offers unearned legitimacy to a significantly flawed and powerful force in education, one which sends underprepared teachers into communities of students…
The interest rates on subsidized Stafford loans doubled from 3.4 percent Monday and could stay doubled unless Congress fulfills its pledge to restore lower rates when it returns from the Fourth of July holiday.
What It Takes to Make New College Graduates Employable Closing the gap between what employers need and what colleges produce will require effort from both sides, specialists say. (The New York Times) 3D printing gaining popularity on college campuses On some college campuses, clicking “print” is taking on a whole new meaning. (USA Today) New presidents at…
Aspen Ideas Festival: Making national service a rite of passage
An Aspen Ideas Festival panel discussion about The Franklin Project, which advocates for making a year of military or civilian national service an expectation, a civic rite of passage, and a badge of honor. It's spearheaded by the Aspen Institute and Retired General Stanley McChrystal.
Parent: Finances aren’t the only benefit of college credit
A reader named Donna T has chimed in on the question of whether the benefits of earning college credit in high school have been overstated: “My children took several AP (Advanced Placement) courses in high school, and the consequences were similar: their financial aid ran out before they completed their degrees. However, the benefits were…
UC programs in lieu of affirmative action show limited success In the nearly two decades since California voters banned the use of affirmative action in college admissions, the two most competitive University of California schools — UCLA and Berkeley — saw enrollments of black and Latino students plunge and have struggled to recover. (Los Angeles Times) ‘Floating…
Mankato’s Gage Towers go boom
Two signature buildings on the campus of Minnesota State University in Mankato came down today. A demolition crew razed the twin 12-story residence halls known as Gage Towers, built nearly 50 years ago, at about 9:30 a.m. The school’s interim alumni relations director, Jennifer Myers, says the buildings were demolished because they can’t be updated.…