Metropolitan State University is a public university in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area. It is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The institution was founded in 1971 as Minnesota Metropolitan State College with a mission to educate non-traditional students from the Twin Cities metropolitan area whose nee…Metropolitan State University is a public university in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area. It is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The institution was founded in 1971 as Minnesota Metropolitan State College with a mission to educate non-traditional students from the Twin Cities metropolitan area whose needs were not served by other existing institutions like the University of Minnesota. David E. Sweet was appointed the university's first president and the school, with offices above a drug store in downtown St. Paul, admitted the first class of 50 students in 1972. The university did not have a campus and offered classes in rented space throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area. When Metropolitan State began, it was a college for working adults. It was strictly an upper-division college where students could only complete their junior and senior years of academic study. The university initially followed a non-traditional course: it offered competence-based learning whereby students were recognized for learning gained outside the classroom—including prior learning through experience. Letter grades were available, but they were always optional. Students designed their own degree plans.
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