House gives its OK to an expanded U in Rochester

05/02/2006

A proposal to expand the University of Minnesota campus in Rochester was approved Monday by the House.

by Norman Draper
Star Tribune
May 2, 2006

The House voted an additional $11.3 million to help the current facility broaden its course offerings, accept more students and eventually move out of the space that it shares with two other institutions of higher learning.

The Senate hasn’t voted on the measure.

Rochester boosters have long dreamed of a bigger and better University of Minnesota presence in Rochester. The plan being considered by the Legislature envisions a modest-size campus that would emphasize upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in technology, health and business. Such a university is also supposed to fuel economic growth in the region and work with the area’s high-tech businesses.

Backers of the plan want the University of Minnesota-Rochester to grow from its current 416 students to 1,400 students and to move to a $38 million building in downtown Rochester, near the Mayo Clinic.