Making College Possible

Minneapolis College is dedicated to removing the obstacles that prevent many of our friends and neighbors from pursuing a higher education. We are committed to equity and inclusion, supporting diverse learning environments, providing paramount service and connecting students to comprehensive resources to support their dreams.

Connecting Students with Scholarships

“We recognize financial constraints can stand in the way for many people,” said Heidi Aldes, Dean of Enrollment Management, who is committed to helping alleviate the financial burden of a college education. “We have more than $500,000 in scholarships from nonprofit foundations, government agencies or employers and private donors available to students in need. Our goal is to make it easy to connect with financial support.”

Joshua Hage is an example of one student at the College who was able to connect with a range of financial support. He applied for and received a Workforce Development Scholarship, provided by the Minnesota Legislature, a Lions Heart Scholarship, a Kopp Presidential Scholarship and an Alice Grant.  “Without this assistance, funding my education would not have been possible,” said Hage who is studying Addiction Counseling and credits faculty for helping him connect to available scholarships.

“Research shows there is a negative impact on academic performance when full-time students work more than 25 hours a week,” said Aldes. “If we can connect students to financial resources so they don’t have to work full-time, they will reap the rewards with higher success.

Providing Comprehensive Student Services

Minneapolis College is known for its commitment to providing comprehensive services to its students and eliminating red tape. The Student Services department, for example, provides a one-stop location for registration, records, financial aid, billing, payment and veterans benefits. Additionally, academic advisors provide one-on-one support to students to connect them to resources, complete the admissions process and encourage success along the way. The College is also providing grace to students who have account balances from previous semesters, enabling registration and tuition deferment to further alleviate financial burdens.

Reaching Out to the Community

Supporting members of our community doesn’t stop within the walls of the College,” said Aldes. “We are reaching out to form partnerships across sectors.”

Examples of how the College is engaging the community include:

• Encouraging HR departments within local businesses to provide financial support to their workforce to enable employees to pursue advanced training.
• Educating local Workforce Centers on certificate and degree opportunities that can help people fine tune current skills or secure training for new careers quickly.
• Partnering with local schools and college access partners to help students complete their college entrance requirements, including the FAFSA.

“COVID-19 shifted our thinking,” said Aldes, who is proud of how quickly the College moved to online learning at the height of the pandemic. “We are taking everything we learned into the future to help make college possible for everyone who wants to pursue a higher education.”

Learn more about funding your education.