St. Cloud State University Officials Lay Out Hard Truths and Bold Plans at City Council Work Session Monday Night

(KNSI) – Five senior officials from St. Cloud State University met with the city council during a study session Monday night to discuss the school’s future and how the community can help in its turnaround efforts.

The conversation featured many positives but some hard truths were laid on the table. Interim President Dr. Larry Dietz said an enrollment of 18,000 students at SCSU may never be seen again.

“St. Cloud State might have been the largest institution in Minnesota where this is going on, but a lot of others, both in state and out of state, will follow suit, because the demography is simply not there to have the numbers of students that we’ve had.”

The Midwest is feeling the demographic pinch harder than other regions of the country and Dietz said it’s a hard sell to get a student from the south to choose a Minnesota winter over more pleasant weather closer to home. He used an example from his home state of Illinois to illustrate the amount of competition happening in rival admissions offices.

Chicago is the third largest city in the country and that means a lot of potential college students. Right now, over 200 out-of-state universities have a full-time staff member living and working in the Windy City with the sole job of getting students there to leave town for their studies.

Dietz went into more detail on his plans to reshape SCSU’s campus, reducing the number of buildings and adding greenspace. He wants to highlight one of the area’s natural resources.

“Most institutions anywhere in the country, particularly in areas that are not near water, would love to have any kind of water feature. And not only do we have a water feature, but it runs right by the campus, and it’s the most famous river in the United States, the Mississippi River.”

Manmade landmarks like the Munsinger and Clemens Gardens would also be visible from campus if the proper adjustments are made.

There’s a financial logic to the move, as well.

According to the school’s administration, the campus has more square feet of buildings per student than any other Minnesota State institution. Enrollment has tumbled from its peak of 18,300 in 2010 to just over 10,000 in 2023. Today, enrollment is closer to what it was in the 1960s, but the campus footprint hasn’t adjusted.

Right now, the school is spending 42 cents per square foot on maintenance. Dietz says that should be closer to one dollar per square foot or facilities begin to fall into disrepair. It was relayed to the council that some buildings at SCSU now have up to $40 million in deferred maintenance, which is not practical while it is running an operating deficit.

___