Mankato is an educational mecca that draws tens of thousands of students, creates enormous economic impact, brings added quality of life to the area and provides the trained work force businesses yearn for.
Even as state budget troubles and the recession challenge all public and private colleges as well as K-12 schools, they continue to thrive and adapt.
On the high school level, Mankato schools have long worked with colleges and area employers to develop programs that help students explore what types of career fields they may be interested in.
More than 200 students have taken a career education class this year and demand is expected to grow.
The largest higher education campus in southern Minnesota — Minnesota State University — has had a string of construction projects in recent years.
A new addition to Trafton Science Center just opened and the rest of the structure is being renovated in what are the biggest projects in the history of the state university system.
Other big recent projects include the Julia A. Sears residence hall and plans are on the board for the eventual replacement of the Gage towers residence halls.
Construction has been an even bigger focus at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, which has been in an almost non-stop building mode since tornadoes hit the campus a decade ago.
One of the additions is the football field, an impressive upgrade to a college with a rich gridiron tradition in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
“The new football stadium and Hollingsworth Field has had a major impact at Gustavus,” athletic director Al Molde said.
Besides bricks and mortar, MSU and the other colleges continue to change curriculum and try new programs to meet the needs of students an the demands of employers.
Programs in health-care education continue to draw huge demand — more than MSU and the other area colleges can handle.
At Rasmussen College’s new building on the northeast side of Mankato, traditional students and older workers who’ve been laid off or looking for a new career track are keeping the college busy, with enrollment nearly doubling since 2004. One of the biggest demands is for those who want to get into nursing and other health professions.
“There’s a lot going on in the allied health world right now,” said John Pappas, campus director of Rasmussen’s Mankato campus. “It’s a very growing area of the economy. There will be 2.5 million jobs (in health care) by 2016.
Bethany Lutheran College, a private college in Mankato, also has seen a growth spurt.
The college has been elevating many of its disciplines from-two year to four-year programs and adding new classrooms and residence halls, including the new Meyer Hall of Math and Science.
For more Free Press news go to http://www.mankatofreepress.com/
Email this article | Permanent link | Topstories news | Topstories news archives
Minnesota State
University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56001
1-800-722-0544
© 2005-2013 Minnesota State University, Mankato. Minnesota State University, Mankato is a member of
Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system and an affirmative action/equal opportunity university.
