# St. Cloud State University *Public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system* St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in [[St. Cloud]], [[Minnesota]]. The university's own history page dates its founding to 1869, when it opened as the Third State Normal School.[^1] It is among the largest campuses of the [[Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system]]. Wikipedia reports that in fall 2023 it enrolled 2,084 graduate students and 8,430 undergraduates.[^2] The university's factbook reports a headcount of 13,466 in fall 2018 and 9,646 in fall 2025. The fall 2025 figure was 5.1 percent below the year before.[^3] Measured in full-year equivalents, the *[[Star Tribune]]* reports a fall from about 15,100 around 2010 to about 7,300 in fall 2023.[^4] Deficits are recorded across the same span. In 2001 the [[Office of the Legislative Auditor (Minnesota)]] issued an audit that projected an FY2001 deficit of about $4 million and made fourteen findings.[^5] A former finance vice president later put the structural gap at about $24 million once federal COVID relief expired.[^4] The enrollment series used in this article is published by the university itself.[^3] Under the project's catalogue, governance of the university belongs to the Minnesota State system's Board of Trustees, not to the city or county in which it sits. The project's at-issue record names the university in seven pairs, which are set out below.[^6] ## Who Authority over SCSU rests with the Board of Trustees of the [[Minnesota State system]]. The project's Stearns County dossier records that the mayor of St. Cloud, the city council and the county hold no jurisdiction over the university. David Kleis represented Senate District 16 from 1995 to 2002 and District 15 from 2003 to 2005, and he was Assistant Minority Leader in the 82nd and 83rd Legislatures. The Legislative Reference Library's record for him lists a B.A. from St. Cloud State University. It also lists committee service including [[Crime Prevention and Public Safety]] and [[Children, Families and Learning]], and service in the [[U.S. Air Force]] and Air Force Reserve.[^7] The dossier states that in 2001 he appropriated state money to strengthen the university's teacher pipeline. It further states that he then presided for twenty years over the city of St. Cloud while the university's enrollment halved, and that his office held no authority over the university. ## What SCSU offers more than 200 undergraduate majors, minors and pre-professional programs, and more than 60 graduate programs and certificates. Its Ed.D. programs are in Higher Education Administration and in Educational Administration and Leadership. The university fields 19 NCAA Division II teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and its men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in Division I.[^2] The university's Office for Institutional Equity and Access publishes a [[Diversity Plan]] dated 2012. The project's at-issue record states that no refreshed plan replacing it was located. The same record states that the project located no [[Office for Civil Rights]] complaint, resolution agreement or Justice Department matter involving SCSU apart from the [[Title IX]] athletics litigation, *Portz v. St. Cloud State University*. In *Portz*, the district court found a Title IX participation-opportunities violation on August 1, 2019. On July 6, 2020, it held the university in contempt for restricting the women's tennis team's access to coaching and competition, and it awarded $10,000 to each of two women's teams.[^8] On October 28, 2021, the Eighth Circuit ruled in Nos. 19-2921 and 20-1366.[^9][^10] It affirmed the participation-opportunities violation and reversed the treatment-and-benefits findings. It also vacated an attorney-fee award exceeding $1 million and remanded the case.[^9][^10] ## When The Third State Normal School opened in 1869.[^1] It was housed in the Stearns House, a renovated former hotel that the [[Legislature]] had bought for $3,000. Its five faculty members were led by Principal Ira Moore, and women made up 40 of its first 50 students. Old Main opened in early 1874. A junior college curriculum followed in 1898, and the secondary program ended in 1914. The Legislature authorized the name St. Cloud State Teachers College in 1921. The first bachelor's degrees were conferred in 1925, and "Teachers" left the name in 1957. The institution became a university of five colleges and a graduate school in 1975, and it began offering applied doctoral degrees in 2007.[^2] The Legislative Auditor's financial-compliance audit of fiscal years 1999–2000 is dated April 26, 2001.[^5] In 2019 the university discontinued men's football and men's and women's golf, and it announced a men's soccer team in order to remain in Title IX compliance.[^2] The faculty union's statement on the 2019 retrenchment is dated September 17, 2019.[^11] Further reduction rounds followed in 2023[^12] and 2024.[^13][^14] The fall 2025 headcount was measured on October 7, 2025.[^3] ## How In 2019 the university retrenched eight tenured positions. The Inter Faculty Organization stated that the administration "violated the IFO contract." It also stated that the data offered to justify the cuts was "incomplete and does not meet the standard to justify retrenchment." These are the union's allegations, not adjudicated findings.[^11] In 2023 the university moved to cut six degree programs and 37 positions against an $18.3 million projected shortfall.[^12] In 2024 roughly 90 programs and 54 faculty were targeted, and four programs were later spared after pushback.[^13][^14] Wikipedia's tally of the cuts lists 42 degree programs, 50 minors, 54 full-time faculty, 42 staff and four administrative positions. It also lists the elimination of football and reduced student events such as homecoming.[^2] The project's search located no [[Bureau of Mediation Services]] docket, arbitration award or unfair-labor-practice charge tied to the 2023 or 2024 rounds. The 2019 union statement is the only located labor-dispute record.[^11] ## How much The 2001 audit projected an FY2001 deficit of approximately $4 million and made fourteen findings. Among them were beverage-contract revenue routed to the university foundation without formal policy, and more than $930,000 left uncollected from a bookstore operator that subsequently went bankrupt.[^5] Later figures measure different things and come from different sources. According to the *Star Tribune*, a former finance vice president put the structural gap at about $6 million in 2019 and about $24 million after federal COVID relief expired.[^4] *Inside Higher Ed* reported an $18.3 million projected shortfall behind the 2023 cuts.[^12] Wikipedia reports a net loss of $18 million in 2023 and a budget deficit of $14.4 million in 2024.[^2] In *Portz*, the district court awarded $10,000 to each of two women's teams.[^8] The Eighth Circuit vacated a fee award exceeding $1 million.[^9] ## How many Enrollment figures differ by measure and source. The university's factbook reports fall headcounts beginning at 13,466 in fall 2018. The series continues 12,608, 11,282, 10,401, 10,093 and 10,164, and it ends at 9,646 in fall 2025, down 5.1 percent year over year.[^3] The *Star Tribune* reports that full-year-equivalent enrollment fell from about 15,100 at its peak around 2010 to about 7,300 in fall 2023, a drop of more than half. It reports a comparable decline of about 6 percent at Minnesota State University–[[Mankato]].[^4] Wikipedia, counting headcount, gives roughly 18,000 in 2010 and roughly 10,000 in 2024. Of the 2024 figure, about 5,000 were traditional full-time students and about 2,500 were students under 18 enrolled in PSEO courses.[^2] The project's at-issue record states that the Minnesota State system reported its third consecutive year of system-wide enrollment increases in October 2025. That was the same fall in which SCSU's headcount fell 5.1 percent.[^3] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record names SCSU in seven pairs. Each pair is set beside a federal presidential action that serves as its anchor. The anchors are cited below for what the record pairs them with; none of them addresses SCSU itself. - **AI-Stearns-007:** SCSU's fall in full-year-equivalent enrollment from about 15,100 to about 7,300 is set beside Mankato's loss of about 6 percent and the system's third consecutive year of increases.[^6] - **AI-Stearns-020:** The Legislative Auditor's 2001 findings are set beside a deficit of $24 million twenty-two years later. No remediation document is located in the record.[^15] - **AI-Stearns-025:** Kleis's degree from SCSU and his 2001 appropriation for its teacher pipeline are set beside the absence of any city authority over the university.[^6] - **AI-Stearns-076:** The university's own factbook series of declining headcounts is set beside the institution that publishes it.[^6] - **AI-Stearns-077:** The 2012 Diversity Plan is set beside the absence of any located refreshed plan.[^16] - **AI-Stearns-078:** The *Portz* Title IX litigation is set beside the absence of any other located federal civil-rights matter.[^16] - **AI-Stearns-079:** The 2023 and 2024 workforce reductions are set beside the absence of any located Bureau of Mediation Services docket, arbitration award or unfair-labor-practice charge.[^17] ## Notes [^1]: St. Cloud State University, *History* (undated) — founding in 1869 as the Third State Normal School. https://www.stcloudstate.edu/about/history/ [^2]: Wikipedia, *St. Cloud State University* (revision 1368429461, retrieved October 27, 2026) — fall 2023 enrollment; Stearns House, early faculty and students, name changes and degree dates; programs and athletics; 2019 athletics changes; headcount trend, losses, deficit and cuts as summarized. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Cloud_State_University [^3]: St. Cloud State University, *Fall 2025 University Factbook* (2025) — headcount series from 13,466 (fall 2018) to 9,646 (fall 2025, measured October 7, 2025), down 5.1 percent year over year. https://www.stcloudstate.edu/air/_files/documents/reports/factbook/2025-fall-university-factbook.pdf [^4]: *Star Tribune*, *What happened to St. Cloud State University?* (undated) — full-year-equivalent enrollment from about 15,100 (around 2010) to about 7,300 (fall 2023); Mankato decline of about 6 percent; structural deficit of about $6 million (2019) and about $24 million after COVID relief expired. https://www.startribune.com/what-happened-to-st-cloud-state-university/601140137 [^5]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Financial-compliance audit, St. Cloud State University, FY1999–2000* (April 26, 2001) — projected FY2001 deficit of about $4 million; fourteen findings, including beverage-contract revenue routed to the foundation and more than $930,000 uncollected from a bookstore operator. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/fad/access/01-20.htm [^6]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — presidential action used as the anchor of at-issue pairs AI-Stearns-007, -025 and -076; it does not address SCSU. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^7]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Legislators Past & Present*, record for David Kleis (undated) — Senate District 16 (1995–2002) and District 15 (2003–2005); Assistant Minority Leader, 82nd–83rd Legislatures; committee assignments; B.A. from St. Cloud State University; Air Force and Air Force Reserve service. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10326 [^8]: American Association of University Women, *Portz v. St. Cloud State University* (case summary) — district court Title IX participation-opportunities violation (August 1, 2019); contempt order (July 6, 2020); $10,000 to each of two women's teams. https://www.aauw.org/resources/legal/laf/current-cases__trashed/portz-v-scsu/ [^9]: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, *Portz v. St. Cloud State University*, No. 19-2921 (October 28, 2021) — affirming the participation violation; reversing the treatment-and-benefits findings; vacating a fee award exceeding $1 million; remanded. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/19-2921/19-2921-2021-10-28.html [^10]: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, *Portz v. St. Cloud State University*, No. 20-1366 (October 28, 2021) — companion appeal decided the same day. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/20-1366/20-1366-2021-10-28.html [^11]: Inter Faculty Organization, *Statement on St. Cloud State retrenchment* (September 17, 2019) — eight tenured positions cut; the union's assertion that the administration "violated the IFO contract" and that the data was "incomplete and does not meet the standard to justify retrenchment." https://www.ifo.org/ifo-updates/2019/9/17/statement-on-st-cloud-state-retrenchment [^12]: *Inside Higher Ed*, quick take on St. Cloud State cuts (April 24, 2023) — six degree programs and 37 positions against an $18.3 million projected shortfall. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/04/24/six-programs-37-jobs-be-cut-st-cloud-state [^13]: *Star Tribune*, report on St. Cloud State deepening previously announced cuts to programs and faculty (2024 round) — roughly 90 programs and 54 faculty targeted. https://www.startribune.com/st-cloud-state-deepens-previously-announced-cuts-to-programs-faculty/600278407 [^14]: *Higher Ed Dive*, report on St. Cloud State's final program cuts and faculty reduction (2024 round) — final cuts; four programs spared. https://www.highereddive.com/news/st-cloud-state-final-program-cuts-faculty-reduction/718784/ [^15]: The White House, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse* (March 2025) — presidential action used as the anchor of at-issue pair AI-Stearns-020; it does not address SCSU. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/ [^16]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (January 2025) — presidential action used as the anchor of at-issue pairs AI-Stearns-077 and -078; it does not address SCSU. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^17]: The White House, *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (March 2026) — presidential action used as the anchor of at-issue pair AI-Stearns-079; it does not address SCSU. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/