Executive Summary
The College of Liberal Arts (CLA) represents the heart of Minnesota’s flagship University — a place where we expand the frontiers of knowledge while preparing our students for bright, curiosity-filled futures.
This preparation has never been more relevant. From health crises to climate change, economic dislocation to advancing transformation on issues of race, dignity, justice, and respect — these are exactly the kind of issues we explore in the liberal arts.
Our goal is to help students develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their communities so they can go out and tackle these challenges. Through cutting-edge research, creativity, and stellar instruction, we are building a more diverse and inclusive community, while deepening a culture of engagement for our alumni, community, and state.
The college is home to 31 academic units covering the arts, humanities, social sciences, communications, and health. CLA also houses nine collegiate research centers and numerous departmental centers. With nearly 14,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, CLA has the largest enrollment among all colleges in the UMN System and in Minnesota.
Enrollment: Fall 2023
| Undergrad | Graduate and Professional | Non-Degree | Total | %BIPOC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,319 | 1,417 | 129 | 13,865 | 34.0% |
Headcounts: Fall 2023
Points of Pride
- CLA is Minnesota's opportunity college, home to more than 28 percent first-gen and 35 percent BIPOC students.
- Our social sciences are ranked 12th in the world.
- CLA educates more of Minnesota’s workforce than any other college in the state and is a national leader in career readiness for liberal arts students.
- We are expanding curriculum in American Indian Studies, including a new Dakota language major and a soon to be announced PhD program.
- CLA is home to unique partnerships with local arts, government, and non-profit organizations.
Degrees, Retention & Graduation Rates
2022-2023 Degrees & Certificates Granted
| Undergrad Degrees | Masters Degrees | Doctoral Degrees | Certificates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,948 | 178 | 165 | 22 |
* Excludes $18.3M in sponsored revenues
Revenue does not include carryforward or net transfers.
*Excludes $18.3M in sponsored expenditures
Expenditures may exceed revenue when carryforward is used.
Key Areas of Strength & Strategic Opportunities
Strengths
- Research and Creative Work: CLA draws the world’s brightest minds to Minnesota. A dozen CLA faculty and alumni have won Nobel Prizes in economics, literature, chemistry, and physics. Six CLA faculty members have been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the past decade and six professors are Regents Professors, the highest honor the University of Minnesota bestows on its faculty. Since 2000, CLA students have won four Rhodes, 10 Truman, and five Beinecke Scholarships, plus 99 Fulbright awards. Our research and creative work has led to breakthroughs in understanding human behavior, economic theory, addiction, equality, and big data. Faculty and alumni have shaped policies to create fairer housing practices and better economic conditions around the world.
- Alumni Engagement: With some 96,000 alumni living in Minnesota and more than 166,000 alumni living across the globe (33 percent of UMN alumni), CLA has tremendous opportunities to expand outreach and engagement. Alumni stay connected and give back to the college. Over 500 alumni volunteered for CLA and the University in 2023, including 28 alumni leading national and international alumni networks. Eighteen CLA alumni have served as board chairs of UMAA since 1976. Twenty-one CLA alumni have served as Regents, including current Regents Penny Wheeler and Regents Chair Janie Mayeron. CLA has presented 1,730 with the Alumni of Notable Achievement since 1994.
- Fundraising: We annually raise $20M-$25M to support the college; in turn, philanthropy supports a growing portion of the college budget with $20M in philanthropic transfers supporting initiatives during the last fiscal year. Back in 2021, we closed the most successful fundraising campaign in CLA’s history, raising $182 million — which was $32 million beyond our original goal. In the current year, CLA hit their annual fundraising goal in February and is trending toward surpassing 2021 and reaching the highest fundraising year in the college’s history.
Strategic Opportunities
- Enrollment Management: Since Fall 2020, CLA enrollment has been declining an average 2.5 percent annually, however the decline in transfer and continuing students has been offset by NHS student headcounts. Enrollment appears to be stabilizing, presenting some predictability with budget planning.
- Strategic Resource Management: The declining enrollments have led to a continued imbalance in the CLA budget’s capacity to cover net operations and have outpaced the college’s ability to react. To actively strengthen our budget, CLA is systematically evolving to a more dynamic resource allocation model, which will be linked to the strategic priorities to be developed under leadership of the college’s new dean. The college is improving reporting and introducing scenario planning tools to improve financial visibility, seeking ways to grow college resources and better support growth, and developing resource allocations that are more responsive to changing conditions.