Minnesota Engineering Degrees
The Land of 10,000 Lakes and gophers, Minnesota is one of the most literate states in the country. Minnesota is known for its friendly culture, with many citizens participating in cultural events, local government, and neighborhood activities. With various outdoor opportunities, like hiking and walking outdoors, as well as nationally-famous health clinics like the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota is considered one of the healthiest states in the nation.
Minnesota’s economic identity is vibrant, with many citizens employed in health care, forestry, agriculture, service, mining, energy, technology, and education.
Minnesota is also known culturally for its fine arts scenes, state fairs, and the term “Minnesota Nice”, which is the stereotypical nice behavior many citizens in the state display. What’s “nice” about the state is that they are ranked 1st for Electromedical Equipment Manufacturing.
Here is a partial list of the larger employers in Minnesota that hire engineering professionals: UnitedHealth Group Inc., Target Corp., Best Buy Co. Inc., Supervalu Inc., 3M Co., U.S. Bancorp, Medtronic Inc., General Mills Inc., Mosaic Co., Xcel Energy Inc., C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., Ameriprise Financial Inc., Hormel Foods Corp., Ecolab Inc., St. Jude Medical Inc., Nash Finch Co., and Alliant Techsystems Inc.
Engineering Education in Minnesota
There are dozens of academic institutions across Minnesota with many in the metropolitan Saint Paul-Minneapolis region. For public colleges, there are 27 community and public technical schools offering certificate and associate’s programs in engineering.
Three state universities, Winona State University, Saint Cloud State University, and Bemidji State University offer baccalaureate and some graduate programs in engineering.
Four private universities, like the University of St. Thomas, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Northwestern College, and Bethel University also provide undergraduate and graduate engineering programs. The Dunwoody Technical School in Minneapolis is a private, 4-year college offering certificate, associate’s, and bachelor’s programs in engineering.
There are two public university systems in Minnesota: the Minnesota State University system and the University of Minnesota system. The Minnesota State University campuses of Moorhead and Mankato offer engineering programs with Mankato offering graduate degrees.
The University of Minnesota system includes three campuses with engineering programs. The Twin Cities campus, which is the flagship campus, Duluth, and Crookston each have engineering programs, with Twin Cities and Duluth offering graduate degrees.
Outlook for Engineering Jobs in Minnesota
Nationwide, the engineering sector is expected to see a jump in employment by 10% between 2010 and 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Much of this increase comes with the maintenance and improvement over infrastructure across the country. In May 2011, the BLS reported that Minnesota had a total of 48,250 architectural and engineering jobs.
The Minneapolis-Saint Paul-Bloomington metropolitan area consists of the largest concentration of total engineering jobs in the state, with 36,260 engineering jobs. The top engineering sector is the industrial engineering sector, with the BLS reporting that there are 7,180 jobs in that sector.
Three other engineering sectors in Minnesota employ over a thousand workers in the sector. They include the mechanical engineering sector (5,100 jobs), the electrical engineering sector (4,090 jobs), and the civil engineering sector (3,210 jobs).