Education in Minnesota

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{{Education in the U.S.}}

Education in the US State of Minnesota comes from a number of public and private sources and encompasses pre-Kindergarten to post-secondary levels. Minnesota has a literate and well-educated population;[https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0228.pdf Table 228: Educational Attainment by State], U.S. Bureau of the Census, showing Minnesota with a 91% high school graduation rate in 2006, the second-highest in the nation. Retrieved October 12, 1020. the state ranked 13th on the 2006–07 Morgan Quitno Smartest State Award, and is first in the percentage of residents with at least a high school diploma.{{cite web | title = Smartest State Award | publisher = Morgan Quitno Press | url = http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm | access-date = July 24, 2006}}{{cite web | title = High school diploma or higher, by percentage by state | publisher = Statemaster.com | year = 2004 | url = http://www.statemaster.com/graph/edu_hig_sch_dip_or_hig_by_per-high-school-diploma-higher-percentage | access-date = August 16, 2006 | archive-date = September 27, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223755/http://www.statemaster.com/graph/edu_hig_sch_dip_or_hig_by_per-high-school-diploma-higher-percentage | url-status = dead }} But while more than 90% of high school seniors graduated in 2006, about 6% of white, 28% of African American, 30% of Asian American and more than 34% of Hispanic and Native American students dropped out of school.{{cite web|title=Status of Girls in Minnesota|url=http://www.wfmn.org/PDFs/StatusOfGirlsInMN_FullReportFINAL.pdf|publisher=Women's Foundation of Minnesota and the Institute for Women's Policy Research|date=April 2008|access-date=April 29, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020235632/http://www.wfmn.org/PDFs/StatusOfGirlsInMN_FullReportFINAL.pdf|archive-date=October 20, 2013|url-status=dead}} In 2007 Minnesota students earned the highest average score in the nation on the ACT exam.{{cite web| title =Minnesota's Class of 2007 leads the nation in ACT scores| publisher =Multimedia Holdings Corporation| year =2007| url =http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=262186| access-date =August 15, 2007| archive-url =https://archive.today/20120524225839/http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=262186| archive-date =May 24, 2012| url-status =dead}} While Minnesota has chosen not to implement school vouchers,{{Cite news|last=Hallman |first=Charles |title=School vouchers: Who stands to gain at what cost? |work=Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder |date=March 14, 2007 |url=http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/3985 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723221706/http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/3985 |archive-date=July 23, 2014 }} it is home to the first charter school, the City Academy High School of Saint Paul.{{cite web | title = Charter Schools | publisher = Minnesota Department of Education | year = 2007 | url = http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/School_Choice/Public_School_Choice/Charter_Schools/index.html | access-date = May 6, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070222235406/http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/Academic_Excellence/School_Choice/Public_School_Choice/Charter_Schools/index.html | archive-date = February 22, 2007}}

The state supports two public university and college systems, including 37 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.{{cite news|title=Best Colleges 2009: Liberal Arts Rankings |publisher=USNews.com |year=2009 |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/liberal-arts-search/ |access-date=March 25, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314061238/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/liberal-arts-search/ |archive-date=March 14, 2009 }}