coeducational institution of higher learning, situated in the Red River (Red River of the North) valley in Moorhead, western Minnesota, U.S. It is one of seven institutions in the Minnesota State University system. The Moorhead campus was established in 1885 as one of several normal (teacher-training) schools in Minnesota. All the normal schools in the state university system became teachers colleges in 1921, when they were granted the right to award four-year degrees. In 1957 they were designated state colleges, having received the right to grant master's degrees in 1953. In 1975 the schools all gained university status. In 2000 the university's name was officially changed from Moorhead State University to Minnesota State University Moorhead. Enrollment at the university is some 7,000 students.

The university is made up of colleges of arts and humanities, business and industry, education and human services, and social and natural sciences. Moorhead is part of the Tri-College University cooperative—a study exchange with Concordia College in Moorhead and North Dakota State University in nearby Fargo. Moorhead awards bachelor's and master's degrees in some 100 programs; it also offers an associate degree and more than 20 preprofessional programs. Research facilities include the Regional Science Center.