St. Cloud State opened in 1869 as Third State Normal School. The school was one building, the Stearns House, a renovated hotel purchased by the state Legislature for $3,000. The five-member faculty was headed by Principal Ira Moore. Of the 53 original students, 43 were women. As the number of female students increased, Stearns House was completely transformed into a women's dormitory in 1874; male students organized a boarding club where they located a house near campus, overseen by a matron.[9]
In 1898, the school offered a junior college curriculum. In 1914, the school dropped its secondary education program. The Legislature authorized a name change in 1921 to St. Cloud State Teachers College. In 1957, the word "Teachers" was deleted. The first bachelor's degrees were awarded in 1925. Master's degree programs were first offered in 1953.[citation needed]
In 1975, St. Cloud State became a university comprising five colleges and a graduate school.[10] In 1987, men's hockey became an NCAA Division I program. Two years later, the team moved into a new two-rink arena called the National Hockey Center.[11]
Applied doctoral degrees were first offered in 2007.[12]
The university offers over 200 majors, minors, and pre-professional programs in six colleges and schools.[15]
SCSU is the only Minnesota university that offers an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredited manufacturing engineering program. It also provides ABET-accredited electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science programs.[16] The Master of engineering management is the only Minnesota program certified by the American Society of Engineering Management.[17]
The School of Graduate Studies offers more than 60 graduate programs and certificates, including specialist, Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, Master of Engineering Management, Master of Music and Master of Science. Ed.D. doctoral degrees are offered in Higher Education Administration and Educational Administration and Leadership.[18]
Colleges and schools
St. Cloud State offers more than 200 undergraduate programs, more than 60 graduate programs, and three doctoral programs of study in eight colleges and schools.
At the start of each academic year, students are invited to "Mainstreet," a showcase for student organizations, campus services, and community connections.[28] Students are encouraged to participate in its more than 250 student organizations, including the Investment Club, which runs a student-managed investment portfolio.[29]
KVSC 88.1 FM is an educational public radio station licensed to SCSU. The station started on May 10, 1967, and expanded broadcasting times in September 1994.[31] Among other things, KVSC hosts a 50-hour trivia contest,[32] which dates to 1980, and community events, such as Granite City Radio Theatre.[33]
UTVS is the school's broadcast television station, airing student-produced content on Charter Channel 180 24/7. The station has a variety of shows, including "Husky Mag", "Crunch Time", "Husky Tonight", "Monday Night Live", "The Culture", "UTVS News En Espanol", "Faking News", and its flagship broadcast, "UTVS News". Husky Productions, responsible for broadcasting hockey games at the HBNHC, also sometimes airs on UTVS.
Student governance
Student government plays an advisory role in campus governance and a management role in distributing student fee dollars to student organizations and campus units. It allocates funding for athletics, technology, and student legal services. The student government president meets regularly with the university president.
Students vote on leadership positions, senator positions, and advisory resolutions. The president and vice president are Surkhel Yousafzai and Betty Asefaw.[34]
SCSU has 19 NCAA Division II teams and is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The team name is the Huskies, and it is represented by Blizzard, the mascot.[35] In 2014, the university updated its secondary logo, which features a Husky dog face.[36] In December 2019 SCSU announced it was discontinuing the men's football team and men's and women's golf. To remain in compliance with Title IX, the university is adding a men's soccer team.[citation needed]
In the 1986–87 season, Herb Brooks, the 1980 USA men's Olympic hockey coach, became the coach of the Huskies and helped men's hockey attain NCAA Division I status. That season, he led the Huskies to a 25–10–1 record and a third-place trophy at the NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship.[37] He also guided efforts to build the two-rink arena, Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, that now bears his name.[38] In 2001, the men's team won the WCHA post-season tournament, symbolized by the Broadmoor Trophy.[39]
In 1998, the university added a women's hockey team at the NCAA Division I level.[40]
Men's Huskies Hockey has earned 19 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship appearances. The team advanced to the 2013 Frozen Four.[41] The 2012–13 team's co-captain Drew LeBlanc was named WCHA Player of the Year and earned numerous national honors, including the Hobey Baker Award, the most prestigious award in men's college hockey.[42] The 2013 team also earned a share of the WCHA league title and the MacNaughton Cup.[43] The 2014 team earned the Penrose Cup, the league title trophy for the inaugural season of the NCHC.[44] In 2016 the team won the NCHC post-season tournament, the Frozen Faceoff.[45] In 2018, the team won the NCHC regular-season title, the Penrose Cup, with a 16-4-4 record.[46]
Wrestling
Huskies Wrestling won the NCAA Wrestling Championship in 2020,[47] 2019,[48] 2018,[49] 2016[50] and 2015[51] and placed second in 2017, 2013, 2012, and 2011.
Basketball
From 1982–90, Women's Huskies Basketball dominated the North Central Conference, compiling a 179-58 record in that timespan and advancing three times to the NCAA Women's Division II Basketball Tournament quarterfinals.[52] SCSU won the NSIC Championship in 2020, winning the title for the second time in program history and the first time since 2009.[53]
Leo Kottke – Grammy-nominated finger-style acoustic guitar virtuoso with a four-decade recording career
Warren Limmer – A Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota Senate representing the 34th District, which includes portions of Hennepin County in the northwestern Twin Cities metropolitan area. Limmer previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives.