The University of St. Thomas School of Law is located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. Minneapolis and the nearby capital city of St. Paul make up the core of a metropolitan area with more than 3.5 million residents -- the 16th largest in the United States.

With our downtown location, the School of Law is right in the middle of the region's lively legal community. The Twin Cities bench and bar has embraced the School of Law through the Mentor Externship Program, summer employment opportunties and by participating in a variety of conferences and events.

The School of Law building has been described as "breathtaking" by an ABA site visit team and has received rave reviews for its beauty and impressive design. Since its opening in 2003, the 158,000 square foot building has played host to a wide array of speakers, events and programs.

Directions and Maps for the Minneapolis Campus

More about the Twin Cities for prospective students and admitted applicants

Law School Building and Facilities

The School of Law occupies a beautiful building of over 150,000 square feet in downtown Minneapolis near the federal courthouse and major law firms and businesses. The building has several defining features that make it “quite simply breathtaking,” as described by an ABA site-evaluation team. These include the dramatic four-story Schulze Grand Atrium, used for lectures, conferences, and social gatherings; the Frey Moot Courtroom, which provides a striking setting in which to learn lawyering skills or hear moot court arguments; and the beautiful Chapel of St. Thomas More.

Modern technology enhances the classrooms, library, group study areas, moot courtroom, and private offices. A computer lab and a computer training center accommodate student research needs.

The library, with its ample seating, 12 group study rooms, and 3 AV viewing rooms, provides an attractive, functional environment for group or individual study. The library's strong electronic collection provides convenient access to many resources from both on and off campus.
 

The Twin Cities

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and the nearby capital city of St. Paul make up the core of a metropolitan area with more than 3.5 million residents. With a highly educated population, a diverse economy, nationally renowned cultural institutions and the beauty of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the Twin Cities area routinely ranks high on lists of the nation’s most livable communities.

The Twin Cities are home to a vibrant business community that features the Mall of America -- the nation’s largest shopping and entertainment complex -- as well as 12 of Fortune 500’s largest corporations, including Target, Best Buy and 3M. With our downtown location, the School of Law is right in the middle of the region’s lively legal community. The Twin Cities’ bench and bar has embraced the School of Law through the Mentor Externship Program, summer employment opportunities and by participating in a variety of conferences and events.

The Twin Cities area rates highly for its wide range of leisure activities -- from outstanding theater to a hometown team for every flavor of sports fan. For the more active types, there are nearly limitless recreational opportunities to enjoy. The metropolitan area boasts 949 lakes -- 22 lakes within the Minneapolis city limits alone -- as well as extensive park systems, miles of bicycle and jogging trails and the beauty of the Mississippi River.

In a uniquely Minnesotan way to deal with winter weather, downtown Minneapolis and the St. Thomas Minneapolis campus are connected via a skyway system that is unmatched by any North American city. The skyway system includes 77 enclosed bridges that connect downtown buildings on the second level. Walking from one end of the skyway to the other, you can cover eight miles and pass hundreds of stores, dozens of restaurants and coffee shops, more than 1,500 apartments and condominiums, and almost 200 million square feet of office space.

Every year the Twin Cities are recognized nationally for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few recent
rankings:

• The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area is the nation’s third best market according to Forbes magazine’s America’s Best Cities for Young Professionals 2010 survey.
• For the fourth year in a row, Minneapolis-St. Paul has been ranked the top metro area in the nation for volunteering by the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2010.
• Bicycling magazine named Minneapolis America’s Best Bike City in 2010.
• Men’s Journal magazine has named Minneapolis one of the “Best Places to Live in 2010” in its April 2010 issue.
• The Minneapolis area ranks as the third-fittest metro area in the nation according to the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2010 American Fitness Index (AFI) report.
• The Twin Cities ranked fifth in a December 2009 MarketWatch study on the nation’s best metropolitan centers for business.
• The Minneapolis area ranks in the top five urban getaway vacation spots in the nation according to the 2010 Travel + Leisure magazine’s annual America’s Favorite Cities survey.
• Minneapolis is the sixth best ecocity in the world according to Mercer’s 2010 Quality of Living Worldwide survey.
• Portfolio.com rated the Minneapolis area third in its 2010 Quality of Life report.