Education

Main article: Education in Minnesota

See also: List of colleges and universities in Minnesota, List of high schools in Minnesota, and List of school districts in Minnesota

The Richardsonian Romanesque Pillsbury Hall (1889) is one of the oldest buildings on the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus.

One of the Minnesota Legislature's first acts when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a normal school in Winona. Minnesota's commitment to education has contributed to a literate and well-educated populace. In 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota had the second-highest proportion of high school graduates, with 91.5% of people 25 and older holding a diploma, and the tenth-highest proportion of people with bachelor's degrees.^[107] In 2015, Minneapolis was named the nation's "Most Literate City", while St. Paul placed fourth, according to a major annual survey.^[108] In a 2013 study conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics comparing the performance of eighth-grade students internationally in math and science, Minnesota ranked eighth in the world and third in the United States, behind Massachusetts and Vermont.^[109] In 2014, Minnesota students earned the tenth-highest average composite score in the nation on the ACT exam.^[110] In 2013, nationwide in per-student public education spending, Minnesota ranked 21st.^[111] While Minnesota has chosen not to implement school vouchers,^[112] it is home to the first charter school.^[113]
The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, including 32 institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, and five major campuses of the University of Minnesota. It is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities, six of which rank among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News & World Report.^[114]