1966. During the postwar period, student enrollment expanded greatly. The original university buildings were then in what was known as the Valley Campus, down the hill in lower Mankato. The Valley Campus's size and footprint lacked the space needed to handle the growing student body. The Mankato Teachers College received 12 former Army barracks as a short-term solution. By the late 1950s work began on an entirely new, modern campus atop the river valley bluff. This became the Highland Campus. An experimental school, the Wilson School, was built on the Highland Campus to research and apply new teaching methods for students in grades K–12. The intention was to provide student teachers the opportunity to learn and experiment with new methods in a university environment.
=== 1957–1995: Transition to comprehensive university ===
By 1957, the institution's mission had broadened to comprehensive four-year college education, and the legislature changed the school's name to Mankato State College. By the 1960s the institution …
