From its founding in 1868 as Mankato Normal School, serving 27 students, this has been an institution where big ideas meet real-world thinking. The school became Mankato State Teachers College in 1921, Mankato State College in 1957 and Mankato State University in 1975. In 1998, it took the name that stands today, Minnesota State University, Mankato.

More than 130 undergraduate programs of study, including 13 pre-professional programs, and more than 85 graduate programs, including master’s, specialist and doctoral programs are offered by the university. These programs are offered through six academic colleges Allied Health and Nursing, Arts and Humanities, Business, Education, Science, Engineering and Technology, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Minnesota State University, Mankato has a vibrant campus life with more than 300 academic student groups, intramural sports, leadership and religious organizations, honorary and professional fraternities and sororities, and special interest groups, a nationally recognized service-learning program with more than 2,000 students participating, a Women’s Center, and an LGBT Center that helped earn Minnesota State Mankato’s status as one of the 100 Best Campuses for LGBT students by The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students.

Cutting-edge research in state-of-the-art facilities is one of the hallmarks of Minnesota State Mankato. Many of the university’s research programs rival those at major research universities, but in a setting where the focus is on solving real-world problems.

The university also provides it students with Opportunities for global learning through international partnerships with universities, businesses and organizations, and international lectures and cultural events including the annual International Festival and annual Asian-Pacific American, Fagin Pan-African Student Leadership, Native Nations, and Chicano-Latino conferences.

Approximately 85 miles southwest of the Twins Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota State Mankato sits atop 303 acres overlooking the Minnesota River Valley. The Greater Mankato area has a population of nearly 53,000.