The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System comprises 32 state universities, community colleges, technical colleges and combined community and technical colleges located on 53 campuses across the state.  The system serves approximately 235,000 students annually in credit-based courses and another 130,000 in non-credit courses.

A Rationale for the Minnesota Online

Building on a Virtual Summit sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor in October 2000, an E-Learning Task Force was established to determine how “to promote emerging curriculum for the 21^st century through the development of a MnSCU e-learning environment that includes standards-based e-learning course/courseware development and a wide range of web-based student services.” The E-Learning Task Force identified four critical drivers that reinforce the importance of strategically developing a position in the e-learning space:

1.      Meet market demand

2.      Meet stakeholder expectations

3.      Promote and increase access

4.      Respond to increased competition

The Task Force also contracted for an e-learning market analysis to improve the Systems’ understanding about e-learning market demand, about other providers with whom the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are competing for the e-learning market, and about the requirements of a provider to be successful in the e-learning market. This analysis identified, among other things, seven learner segments:

1.      Corporate Learners—individuals employed in a corporate setting and seeking education to advance their careers

2.      Professional Enhancement Learners—individuals seeking to advance or shift their careers

3.      Degree Completion Learners—individuals seeking to complete a degree, typically older students also employed full time

4.      Life Fulfillment Learners—individuals interested in education for its own sake

5.      College Experience Learners—typically the traditional 18-to-24 year old residential college student

6.      Remediation and Test Preparation Learners—individuals interested in learning as a prerequisite for an examination or entrance to an educational program

7.      Pre-College (K-12) Learners—individuals interested in taking post-secondary work prior to completion of high school

The E-Learning Task Force recognized that the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities should not target all learner segments equally, and that the institutions within the System should be strategically targeting specific segments. At present, the vast majority of the System’s delivery of online learning responds to college experience learners seeking greater flexibility in their schedules.  As the work continues, the corporate learners and the degree completion learners will become a focus as well. 

Among the Task Force’s ten recommendations was a recommendation to appoint an e-learning council to oversee the continuing development and implementation of a consolidated approach to e-Learning by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.