Metropolitan State University is a four-year college located in the Twin Cities metroregion of Saint Paul
and Minneapolis in Minnesota.
It is a public university and a member of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU).Founded in 1973, the university initially followed a quite non-traditional course:
students could design their own degree plans, evaluations took the form of written essays rather than letter grades, and much of
the teaching was done by
community faculty with practical knowledge in the field. While the university has recently moved
towards a more traditional format, it retains the
First College which allows students to design individualized degree
plans.Metro State has an enrollment of about 6,000 students per semester, 70% of which are part-time students. It offers the
standard spectrum of undergraduate Bachelor's degrees, as well as Master's degrees in Administration, Management of Information
Systems, Technical Communication, Nursing and Psychology. A Master's program in computer science will begin in Spring 2004.Metropolitan State University offers the lowest tuition in the Twin Cities and accommodates the needs of working adults by
scheduling most classes at night. It follows an open enrollment policy, accepting virtually all applying students.In 2002, the Minnesota legislature approved funding for the construction of a library building in Saint Paul, and the building
is scheduled to be opened in Summer 2004.