Metropolitan State University

Public · Moderately Selective · MN

Photo: McGhiever (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationMN · Midwest

SettingUrban

Undergrads5,616

Student:faculty15:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate27.1%

6-yr grad rate43.6%

Drop-out rate32.5%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$10k

Out-of-state tuition$10k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity66.7%

Gender diversity56.9%

International1.6%

Identity—

Overview

Metropolitan State University is a public university in St. Paul built specifically around working adults, transfer students, and commuters in the Twin Cities, rather than around a traditional residential undergraduate experience.

Academics

Nursing, business, education, and public service are the core program areas, delivered through evening, weekend, and online formats designed around the schedules of working students rather than traditional daytime classes.

Campus & student life

There is little traditional residential campus life here — most students commute, many work full-time, and a large share arrive with credits already earned at Minnesota community colleges, so the school's culture centers on flexibility and completion rather than a conventional college social scene.

Getting in

Admission is accessible and transfer-friendly, with a straightforward process built to accommodate students arriving mid-path from community college rather than directly from high school.

After graduation

Graduates, many of whom were already working adults while enrolled, place into Twin Cities-area employers in nursing, business, and public service roles, often in fields they were already working in prior to finishing their degree.

Worth knowing

Prospective students should understand this is fundamentally a nontraditional, adult-and-transfer-oriented university — a traditional-age student looking for dorm life and a conventional undergraduate social scene will find a very different experience than at a typical four-year college.

metrostate.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate98.7%

Enrolled mid-50%ACT 16–21

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying