in the Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota metropolitan area. It is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
== History ==
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. David E. Sweet was appointed the university's first president and the school, with offices above a drugstore in downtown St. Paul, admitted the first class of 50 students in 1972. The university had no campus and held 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 complete only 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 …
