This blog was written by the Minnesota Private College Council.
One in three Minnesota high school grads who pursue a bachelor’s degree in the state do so at one of 18 private nonprofit colleges in the state. And there are thousands of students from other states and nations who also come to these colleges, along with students who transfer in as well. As they study and earn their bachelor’s degrees, most of these college graduates choose to stay right here, starting their careers or earning advanced degrees in Minnesota.
It’s a significant benefit to the state.
“We have so many students who stay in the Twin Cities or in Minnesota after graduation, even though they moved here from Texas or they moved here from Florida or California or wherever it is,” said Melissa Huybrecht, vice president of enrollment at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. “They don’t immediately go back home or it’s not on their radar, because there are so many opportunities here.”
Suzanne Rivera, president, Macalester College, noted the concern frequently shared about too many young people leaving Minnesota: But Macalester is attracting talent to the state. “On average, only 14 percent of our students come from Minnesota, but more than 30 percent of our alumni choose to live, work, and raise families here. And they’re leaders in government, leaders in industry, leaders in the nonprofit sector.”
Each spring about 9,500 students earn a bachelor’s degree at the 18 institutions that are members of the Minnesota Private College Council. That translates to one in three bachelor’s degrees earned in the state.
Whether they’re originally from Brooklyn Park or Brooklyn, New York, the students who earn their degrees at private colleges graduate ready to join the workforce, which benefits Minnesota employers and their local communities. And looking across all of these 18 institutions, 70 percent of recent graduates stay in Minnesota, the Council reports.
“One thing that’s unique about Minnesota is the density of private colleges and how deeply they’re integrated into the state’s workforce and identity,” said Andy Wilke, Executive Vice President, Greater Mankato Growth. “These private colleges produce the kind of graduates that don’t just work here — they become leaders here. . . . Some may think these institutions are insulated or elitist. But when you look at the data and talk to people, the opposite is true.”
Consider the impact in Mankato, where Bethany Lutheran College is located. “We would love to keep every single one of the graduates from Bethany in Mankato, and it’s an ongoing challenge for us and I’m sure other college communities,” Wilke said. “And what we found is that there’s a lot of businesses that have put down roots in Mankato because of that talent pipeline.”
The heart of what private nonprofit colleges do — educating students who graduate and enter the workforce — is essential for the health of the state’s economy. And it is just one component of the economic impact of the Council’s 18 member institutions. As detailed in a new report prepared by Parker Strategy Group that looked at fiscal year 2023 data, the 18 private colleges and universities that are members of the Council:
- Generate $4.5 billion a year in economic impact,
- Support and sustain 34,687 jobs, and
- Have a local and state tax impact of $253.6 million.
For private colleges, the breadth of their economic impact has been misunderstood for too long, said Dave Bauman, director of academic advisement and registration at The College of St. Scholastica. He thinks it’s time for private colleges to be less modest.
“I think there has to be public awareness of the role that private colleges play in our society, within the state of Minnesota,” Bauman said. “I don’t see enough of that. We need to get out there that we have a lot of graduates, we support the economy and we have a lot of employees.”
Community Impact Adds Up
Communities are stronger with a higher education institution, said David Herman, CEO, Essentia, which is based in Duluth, where The College of St. Scholastica is located.
“You have young, excited people in each community. You have music, plays, sports, and all the other ways that a school can give to a community,” Herman said, in a comment included in the report. “There is a certain vibrancy that comes from higher education institutions that you cannot provide through other means.”
Along with contributing to local vitality, spending associated with Minnesota’s private nonprofit colleges also has a huge impact. Consider the spending of the colleges as well as their students and visitors, which totaled $2.4 million in fiscal year 2023. And that spending in turn creates further economic ripples — generating $2.1 million in indirect and induced spending due to the increase in demand for goods and services and increased household spending. When looked at together, the total economic impact of the 18 private colleges in fiscal year 2023 was $4.5 billion.
Another important impact the 18 private colleges have is through local and state taxes. Direct spending by these 18 private colleges generated $135 million in fiscal year 2023, as reported in the new economic impact report. And the indirect and induced spending generated by the 18 private colleges, their students and visitors resulted in an additional $118.5 million in local and state taxes. According to the new report, adding in these indirect and induced impacts, the total for state and local taxes that the colleges paid or generated in fiscal year 2023 was $253.6 million.
Colleges also seed and support a variety of community building projects, working as partners with neighbors and local entities. These efforts can include work that students undertake for courses, where they’re gaining as much as they are giving, whether that’s measuring water quality in an area river or leading a lesson for a roomful of third graders. (Looking for examples? See some recent clips or the examples in the report posted there, starting on p. 34.)
One way to get a handle on the community impact is volunteering that college students, faculty and staff do. For the Council’s 18 private colleges, total volunteer activity is estimated at 1.2 million hours each year. If that time is given a value, and the value of donations by students, faculty, and staff is added in, that’s a total estimated value of $52 million.
Future Workforce Preparation
For students pursuing bachelor’s degrees, Minnesota’s private nonprofit colleges provide a grounding in the liberal arts across a wide range of specific majors and degrees. It’s a foundation that may be misunderstood. “People don’t understand what a liberal arts education can do for a person and what graduates can do with that degree,” said Carlos Mariani Rosa, executive director, Minnesota Education Equity Partnership, in a comment included in the report. “A liberal arts education gives you practical skills, knowledge, worldviews, and tools that you can apply to whatever your pursuit might be.”
Whether students are earning bachelor’s or advanced degrees, private colleges also offer programs and experiences that prepare students for a variety of specific careers.
- Take health care, where staffing challenges persist. The Council’s member institutions award over one-third of undergraduate and graduate health degrees awarded in the state. This includes nearly half of all baccalaureate nursing degrees and 85 percent of all physician assistants.
- Education is another critical area with significant shortages. And Minnesota’s private nonprofit colleges educate more than one-third of new teachers each year.
“It is a real strength in Minnesota that we have so many private institutions offering different types of teacher licensure programs,” said Alison Spenader, professor of education, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, and the private college representative with the Minnesota Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, in a comment included in the report. “Many Minnesotans are probably unaware of just how impactful private colleges are in preparing teachers all over the state.” (More details on health care and education impacts are included in the report and are highlighted in two one-pagers.)
At the undergraduate level, other significant areas of study include foreign languages, where the private colleges award 51 percent of degrees awarded in the state; physical sciences, where the private colleges award 50 percent of degrees; and math and statistics, where private colleges award 43 percent of degrees. The most popular major? Business, with 1,700 graduates in the most recent year, according to Minnesota Private College Council data.
Making a Difference
Since they were founded, private nonprofit colleges have served “an essentially public purpose” because they have educated generations of students who have graduated and contributed to Minnesota in countless ways, said Paul Cerkvenik, president of the Minnesota Private College Council.
About 367,000 alumni of private colleges are now living in the state. And there are new college graduates joining their ranks each year.
While there may be old stereotypes about who goes to private nonprofit colleges, Cerkvenik said the truth is that they’ve long had missions to not only be accessible to low-income students, but to ensure they graduate and can benefit from their educations. Today the commitment to providing access to a strong education can be told several ways: about 20 percent of undergraduate students are the first in their families to earn degrees, 33 percent are students of color or Native American students, and 25 percent are receiving Pell Grants, which help students from lower-income families.
The focus on ensuring all students move through and earn their degrees can be seen in the colleges’ four-year graduation rate, Cerkvenik said. Looking at first-time students who go to college full-time, the combined graduation rate for Minnesota’s private colleges ranks as the third highest in the nation, when looking at other states’ nonprofit colleges. And for students receiving Pell Grants, the combined graduation rate ranks second highest in the nation.
Several of the colleges have been individually recognized for what they achieve in supporting economic mobility. Overall, graduates of the Council’s 18 member colleges who came from lower-income families have a 75 percent chance of ending up with a middle-class income or higher, as noted in the new economic impact report.
We can see that the alumni who stay in Minnesota are getting a solid start on their careers. As the report notes, the median earnings for alumni working full-time in Minnesota just four years after graduation is $66,800.
“Private colleges in our state are essential to creating economic mobility and preparing thousands of students each year for future success,” Cerkvenik said. “As Minnesota looks to the future and the challenges ahead, private colleges will remain an essential and vital asset for our state’s health and prosperity.”