University of Minnesota aims to expand Rochester campus after enrollment spike

University of Minnesota Rochester officials plan to expand the school’s downtown campus to make way for double its student enrollment over the next few years.

The announcement marks a turning point for the university, which has looked at expanding the Rochester campus several times since classes began in 2009. It leases space in several buildings downtown, but officials had paused plans to build their own facilities in Minnesota’s third-largest city.

Chancellor Lori Carrell shared plans at a University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) state-of-the-campus address Tuesday to accommodate up to 2,500 students by building more academic space downtown. That would include more lab classroom space at Discovery Square, as well as more student gathering space and a “learning innovation” center.

Officials also hope to use 4.8 acres of land the university owns near Soldiers Memorial Field Park for a “student residence and recreational district.”

The university is looking to add two more program specialties to the Rochester campus: biomedical health, good for pre-med majors, and mental health and wellness.

“These planned investments in learning, living and innovation spaces will help us welcome more students, deepen our impact and continue filling the health care workforce needs of Minnesota,” Carrell said in a statement.

UMR is eyeing more fundraising efforts at the same time to sustain the university’s growth. Officials raised more than $5 million as part of its recent Onward scholarship campaign.

“The research is pretty clear that students tend to stick around within a reasonable proximity of where they’re trained,” said Shunkwiler, a health science professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

UMR’s expansion plans come as enrollment has increased across the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State systems for the past two years. Officials hope the increases signal recovery from decreasing enrollment over the past decade.

In September, the Rochester campus enrolled its largest freshman class, nearly 350, an 80% increase from a year earlier. It surpassed 1,000 students overall for the first time in 2024, and the surge in enrollment has leaders both celebrating and scrambling.

UMR looked to grow outside its space in a former downtown shopping center almost from the beginning. The university has bought up more than $10 million in property since 2010 as it looked to establish a permanent campus presence, even planning a campus on the southern edge of downtown in 2014.

Those plans fell through as enrollment slowly grew, combined with economic headwinds that culminated in the COVID-19 pandemic changing the university’s plans. The biggest setback came when the downtown YMCA shut down, ending a promising partnership that was years in the making.