Whats the difference between the different campuses of Minnesota? I’ve notices theres many of them.
This is a confusing question… are you talking about just University of Minnesota - Twin Cities? Or the MNSCU (Minnesota State Colleges & University system)? Just the U of MN - Twin Cities:
- First of all there is an East and West Bank to the main campus. They are spit by the Mississippi River. East bank is bigger. But students move freely between them. There is a covered walkway across the river, and you can also hop a bus (and maybe the light rail now, too).
- There is a St. Paul Campus which has a lot of the agriculture buildings and classes, and I think the veterinary school is there.
- The maps show a Como Campus, but I don't think there are classes (or not many) there, it is more of a facilities type location for the University. I have lived in the Twin Cities for a long time and have a degree from U of MN - TC, and have never been to the Como Campus that I can remember.
Here is a map that might help you. Click on each area at the side, then zoom in to see the names of the buildings in each of the four areas.
There can be a bit of understandable confusion.
In the U of Minnesota system, there are 5 campuses: Twin Cities, Duluth, Morris, Crookston and Rochester. Each of these campuses are distinct entities, and while they share library privileges, they each have their own admissions policies, curriculum, etc. There are some minor exceptions to this for grad level students, but for undergrads, treat them as separate universities.
Twin Cities is our state flagship and the major research institution for the state. Duluth is probably the 2nd in terms of prestige, and is strong in education and nursing programs. Crookston and Morris are smaller, more regional schools. Rochester is new, primarily a graduate campus focused on medical sciences.
What gets confusing to outsiders is that the Twin Cities campus has two main areas: Minneapolis and St.Paul, that (for want of a better word) get called ‘campus’. For academic purposes, they are one campus, and students take courses on either or both. They are about 10 miles apart physically, but there are shuttles that run between the two every 5 minutes.
St.Paul is where the agriculture and veterinary courses are held. Forestry, some biochemistry and food science programs are housed here. Once upon a time, design course were on St.Paul campus as well… I don’t know if that’s still the case. It’s smaller and quieter, situated in a residential area of St.Paul. There’s only one dorm on the St.Paul campus, Bailey. It is possible to get a Bachelor’s from the U and never visit the St.Paul campus their whole four years, but I wouldn’t say that’s common.
Minneapolis is where nearly everything else is… sports, Greek life, social scene. It’s close to downtown Minneapolis, and on all the major transit lines. Minneapolis is split by the Mississippi River into East Bank and West Bank. There’s a pedestrian bridge between the two, but in winter, students usually take the shuttle across. West Bank has most of the Arts and Social Science programs, as well as the main library for the Twin Cites. East Bank has the Sciences, Education and Medical programs. The heart of the Minneapolis campus is Northrup Mall on the East Bank.
Hope that cleared things up a little. Let me know if you have any other questions
West Bank also has the Carlson Business School and the law school while East Bank has Engineering, the main student union and most dorms.
thank you so much! That was so helpful.