Rasmussen University is a

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for-profit university with multiple locations throughout the United States. It offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees as well as certificates and diplomas in career-focused areas at 20 campuses in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

with many programs offered online. Presently, the school has more than 100,000 graduates.

History

Walter Rasmussen founded the school in 1900 as the Rasmussen Practical School of Business, in

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), S ...

. Rasmussen believed the need for skilled professionals by the local business community was not being met. With the advent of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

in 1920 through the Nineteenth Amendment, the school's female enrollment began to increase. In 1945 Walter Rasmussen

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

and named Walter Nemitz to succeed him as director of the college. Nemitz had been with the college since 1934 and as director instituted a number of

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

upgrades. By 1950, more than 22,400 students had graduated from the school. In 1961, Walter's sons Wilbur Nemitz and Robert Nemitz took ownership of the school. In 1974, Rasmussen College acquired the St. Cloud Business College, and in 1979 acquired the Northern Technical School of Business. In 1983, the school opened a campus in

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The ...

. More campuses were opened in

Eagan, Minnesota Eagan ( ) is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is south of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and lies on the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Eagan and the other near ...

(1989), St. Cloud, Minnesota (1997),

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

(2006),

Lake Elmo, Minnesota Lake Elmo is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 11,335 at the 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the population is 13,449. Much of the area within the city limits is still farmland, givin ...

;

Eden Prairie, Minnesota Eden Prairie is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It had a population of 64,198 at the 2020 census, making it the 16th-largest city in Minnesota. The city is adjacent to the north bank of the Minnesota River, upstream fro ...

;

Blaine, Minnesota Blaine is a suburban city in Anoka and Ramsey counties in Minnesota, United States. Once a rural town, Blaine's population has increased significantly in the last 60 years. For several years, Blaine led the Twin Cities metro region in new home ...

(2010),

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

(2013),

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal city, principal cities in ...

(2013) and

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

(2007), Mokena-

Tinley Park, Illinois Tinley Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 55,971 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Chicago metropolitan ar ...

(2010) and

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Wisconsin River and had a population of 39,994 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the core city of the Wausau ...

(2010). In 2001, Rasmussen College was accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

. Rasmussen opened an online campus in 2002. The school acquired Aakers College in North Dakota and Webster College in Florida and merged the schools into Rasmussen's operations. In 2010, Rasmussen College announced a partnership with Market Motive Inc and announced programs in

Internet marketing The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, publ ...

. Rasmussen was sold to Renovus Capital in 2018. Rasmussen College became Rasmussen University in October, 2020. That same month, American Public Education, Inc began the process of acquiring Rasmussen.

Academics

The school offers 60+ programs (program availability varies by state and campus) and is organized into eight areas of study: * Business * Design * Education * Health Sciences * Human Services * Justice Studies * Nursing * Technology Rasmussen University is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

(HLC).

Student outcomes

According to a 2012 US Senate HELP investigation on for-profit colleges led by

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Pa ...

, 63.2 percent of Rasmussen students withdrew, many after only five months of study. The

College Scorecard The College Scorecard is an online tool, created by the United States government, for consumers to compare the cost and value of higher education institutions in the United States. At launch, it displayed data in five areas: cost, graduation rate ...

, reports that Rasmussen University has graduation rates ranging from 21 to 31 percent, typical salary after attending of $32,600 and a student loan repayment rate of 35 percent.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 44.859467, -93.335980, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-MN, display=title For-profit universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges established in 1900 1900 establishments in Minnesota