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.

How MnSCU is trying to turn its campuses into savvier fund-raisers
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system officials are trying to beef up the fund-raising arms of the system. Last week they rolled out a campaign to raise $20 million in donations over the next two years for scholarships to benefit 16,000 students — an effort MnSCU officials call their most ambitious. It’s also the…
Grades disappearing from St. Cloud State transcripts
Stephen Hornstein, president of St. Cloud State University‘s faculty association, tells MPR reporter Conrad Wilson about mysterious changes made to some student transcripts:  “A number of faculty members raised concerns that they believed from what they were seeing that student’s grades were actually disappearing off transcripts. A student would take a course, get a poor…
Campuses bridge gap between Islam and homosexuality Religious affiliation, particularly among younger demographics, may be becoming less of a determining factor in stances on homosexuality. (USA Today) Professors take lessons from online teaching Researchers mine a trove of data from courses offered free on Web. (The Boston Globe via NAICU) College Coaches Use Transfer Rules to Limit…
6 highlights from this year’s college commencement season
Here are snippets that jumped out at me from six commencement ceremonies at Minnesota private colleges. Most are humorous, but a couple gave me insight or made me realize how things had changed from the time I was in college. Feel free to send in bits from other speeches I missed: Retiring University of St.…
Did the disappearance of shop class have an unintended consequence?
Owner Darlene Miller of Permac Industries in Burnsville tells the Twin Cities Business Journal how the disappearance of vocational education has harmed students: “I don’t think it’s coincidental that when our [high school] dropout rate increased by 30 percent was when all of our technical classes in our high schools ended.” She helped start the…
Are Students Who Go Far Away to College More Likely to Study Abroad? The correlation between going far away for college and studying abroad in more challenging countries has not been studied closely, experts say, but more general indications of comfort level often prove determinative. (The New York Times) ‘Old time’ video teaches tricky commencement custom…
The new University of North Dakota medical school will be designed by an architecture firm the university has relied on for decades.