MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Minnesota Online
St. Paul, Minnesota

Minnesota Online provides access to all online educational opportunities available from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. As one of the largest higher education consortia in the United States, the system consists of twenty-five 2-year colleges and seven state universities.

All online degrees are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Minnesota Online also offers a variety of planning tools, online services to help prospective students with financial aid and other needs, contact guides, and live and online support to answer students' education questions.

Distance Learning Program

Minnesota Online offers 3,500 credit and noncredit courses and more than 100 degree, certificate, and diploma programs completely or predominantly online. Courses are designed and taught by faculty members from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Minnesota Online currently is serving more than 30,000 online students.

Delivery Media

Students participating in the Minnesota Online courses need a computer with a sound card and speakers, at least 128MB RAM (256MB or greater recommended), and an Internet connection with a minimum 56K modem (broadband DSL or cable-modem is strongly recommended). Technical specifications often vary from course to course and from school to school. The minimum requirements for those using a Microsoft Windows computer are Windows 2000, ME, NT, XP (or higher) and Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher or Mozilla.Org FireFox 1.0 or higher or Netscape 7.0 or higher. Minimum requirements for Macintosh users are MacOS 9 or OS X (or higher) and Apple Safari 1.2 or higher or Mozilla.Org FireFox 1.0 or higher or Netscape 7.0 or higher. Students are urged to research the computer requirements before registering for any online course.

Programs of Study

Minnesota Online offers undergraduate and graduate awards in more than 100 programs available from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The awards currently offered are associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees; undergraduate and graduate certificates; and diplomas. Continuing education courses are also available.

Specific programs are offered in the following areas: agriculture, food, and natural resources; architecture and construction; arts, AV technology, and communications; business, management, and administration; education and training; finance; government and public administration; health science; hospitality and tourism; human services; information technology; law, public safety, and security; manufacturing; marketing, sales, and service; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and transportation, distribution, and logistics.

Special Programs

The Minnesota Online Corporate Division works with corporations to provide planning, assessment, and course/degree program design and delivery to corporate employees. Education and training can be tailored to meet the company's specific needs and are delivered via the corporate university intranet or via the Internet.

eFolio Minnesota, offered through Minnesota Online, is a multimedia electronic portfolio available to all Minnesota residents, including students enrolled in Minnesota schools, educators, and other professionals. eFolio is a fun and easy-to-use Web-based tool that enables users to digitally document and share their education, career, and personal interests.

The ITeach Center, offered through Minnesota Online, provides a number of ways for faculty and staff members to learn, interact with their peers, and share knowledge. The sections of this interactive guide include Resources and Tools, Educational Opportunities, Online Teaching, and an Interactive Community.

Minnesota Online is a member of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty members and students in higher education. MERLOT.org provides links to online-learning materials along with annotations, such as peer reviews and assignments. Faculty members and students can browse the collection or search for materials. In addition, members may add materials, comments, and assignments to MERLOT.

Student Services

Minnesota Online recently was awarded the WCET Outstanding Work Award (WOW) for outstanding eStudent services. Services include advising, career services, disability services, electronic portfolio, financial aid, libraries, and test proctoring.

Faculty

Courses and programs offered through Minnesota Online are taught by faculty members from the thirty-two institutions that make up the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Faculty members interact with students in the online setting as well as through traditional channels.

Admission

Before students can register for the courses listed on Minnesota Online, they must be admitted to a participating college or university. For a list of these schools, students should visit http://www.mnonline.org/visitor/members.htm.

Admission is handled directly by the individual campus that is offering the course(s). To find the admission contact for the specific MnSCU institution, students should use the selector tool on the admissions page of Minnesota Online at http://mnonline.org/student/admissions.htm.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fee information can be obtained from the individual institutions represented by Minnesota Online. Students with prior educational experience can go online to learn more about transfer and course equivalency opportunities at http://www.mnonline.org/student/transfer.htm or http://www.mnonline.org/student/courseequiv.htm.

Financial Aid

Money from federal, state, college, and private programs comes in the form of grants, loans, scholarships, or college work-study programs. About two thirds of students attending Minnesota State Colleges and Universities receive financial aid. Grants are awarded by the state and federal governments based on established criteria. Scholarships are awarded for academic and other achievements (music, athletics, etc.), financial need, or special interests or talent. There are many opportunities for this type of funding.

For more information, prospective students should visit the financial aid section of the Minnesota Online Web site at http://www.mnonline.org/student/finaid.htm.

Applying

The universal application form, which can be found online at http://www.mnonline.org/student/appform.htm, may be used to apply to any MnSCU institution, including state universities, community colleges, technical colleges, and comprehensive community and technical colleges.

CONTACT

Minnesota Online Support Center
Minnesota Online
Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Phone: 651-556-0596 800-456-8519 (toll-free)
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.minnesotaonline.org