Carrie Brimhall and her Journey in Education

In a small town in South Dakota, Dr. Carrie Brimhall grew up on a farm in a family that believed in hard work, community, and doing what needed to be done. That foundation has carried her through a 26-year career in education, culminating in her current role as the president of Minnesota State Community and Technical College (M State)—a position she describes as both an honor and a challenge.

Meet M State President Carrie Brimhall!

Having spent 26 years in the M State education circuit, Carrie is in her seventh year as college president. She is proud to be both a mom and a leader in her career. She began her education journey as a first-generation college student. She received her undergraduate degree in marketing and communications at Concordia College. Later, while raising young children, she pursued advanced degrees through online education and earned both a master’s degree and a PhD in business. Her graduate studies were designed to keep her career options open, but she focused her academic projects on topics related to education while completing her business degrees.

Despite her busy schedule, Carrie remains grounded in her values of family, community, and lifelong learning. She lives north of Fergus Falls but considers Moorhead a second home, frequenting local spots like Beans Coffee, Crisp & Green, and Junkyard Brewing. She is passionate about connecting with others looking for opinions, guidance, or mentorship. “I’m always willing to help anybody who’s struggling with whether or not they should take that next step,” she said.

Connect with Carrie on LinkedIn at /in/carriebrimhall

“I never sought out to be a college president or even a leader,” Carried said. “To this day, I’d love to go back and work directly with students every day, that’s just not where my path has kept me, but I loved that work.”

While she’s immensely grateful she’s in the position of president, she does admit to missing the student interaction. But, perhaps it’s her lack of “seeking out” a leadership role that got her that exact role anyway. Regardless, her work ethic developed from her earliest days on the farm to leading a multi-campus institution is obvious in her journey.

“How I grew up, you just had to help,” she said. “My parents made me do the most random things, all the time. It’s just what we did in order to make our family work. I’m a doer. I get things done. I like being busy and I like having a lot of things going on.”

From The Farm to FM

Growing up on a farm until sixth grade, Carrie learned early on that success required hard work and community support. After moving to South Dakota, she graduated high school in Big Stone City. Looking back, one might have guessed the impact that higher education had on Carrie as she went on to become the first in her family to attend college—a journey that brought her to M State in Fergus Falls, MN.

“I did what every student should not do, which was follow my, at the time, boyfriend to college,” Carrie said. “Things did not work out, but here I met my current husband, whom I’ve been married to for 27 years this year.”

While she was in a higher education institution, she wasn’t initially pursuing a degree in education. Carrie was interested in criminal justice until she had a pivotal moment that changed her career trajectory.

“I was in the second year of police training, and we were watching a video where, in the situation, you had to shoot somebody. And I was like, ‘I don’t think I could do that. And I probably am not in the right field if I can’t.’ It was really eye-opening—one day I was in criminal justice training to be a police officer and the next day, I had no idea what to do,” Carrie said. “I landed on communications and public relations because I like telling a story.”

That love of storytelling was satiated through her communications degree—that was until she got a certain internship opportunity.

“My job is to help people see beyond what they can see for themselves… Why I keep doing this is because I can remember what it feels like to be a student who doesn’t belong. And I want to try to build systems and support for our students that makes them feel like they absolutely belong here.” – President Dr. Carrie Brimhall

Finding Purpose in Education

While completing her communications degree at Concordia College, Carrie took an internship at M State. It was there that she discovered the impact she could have on students’ lives.

“When I was doing my internship at the college, they asked me to be a student government advisor. I got to know several students, and one of the students ended up writing me a note about how I changed the course of his life and how he wanted to go into education because of me,” Carrie said.

The light bulb went off at that point, and Carrie recognized that she really liked the concept of changing people’s lives and helping them achieve their highest potential.

“And I’ve been here ever since,” she said.

From that initial internship, Carrie has stuck with the college. Over the years, she has held numerous positions at M State, from director of housing and student life to vice president of academics. She has been instrumental in shaping the institution’s student experience, always driven by a mission to make higher education achievable and meaningful.

The Journey to Leadership

When M State merged its campuses in 2003, Carrie took on a college-wide role, traveling across Minnesota to build relationships and understand the unique needs of each community.

“I think I’ve overseen every single department at the college, except for finance and facilities; those are the two that I’ve never had to manage,” Carrie said. “But even IT—I have zero background in it, but we were between leaders and I just took things on. That’s what people do—I said, ‘I guess I’ll learn about IT.’ So I’ve had almost every department under my leadership at the college at some juncture… If the college needed me, I care enough about the college to just take more on in order to help our students.”

Despite the various titles and responsibilities, Carrie never lost sight of her core mission: helping students achieve their highest potential. And, she can recognize the importance of each role that might play a part in that.

“I value every single employee at the college, and sometimes, people don’t realize that some of the people who have the biggest impact on student experiences are people who work in maintenance or security because they’re there when nobody else is there,” Carrie said. “[I] understand that we all have a role in helping students be successful and that any one of us, any given day, can change the course of their life through care, giving that individual attention, and seeing them and who they are.”

In December, M State unveiled its cutting-edge Health Sciences Simulation Center on the Moorhead campus, putting the campus and college on the map for regional healthcare education. This 4,167-square-foot facility offers students from various programs—including nursing, phlebotomy, radiologic technology, and criminal justice—an opportunity to engage in realistic, hands-on clinical training. With a variety of healthcare-related rooms and interactive tech, the center is an immersive learning environment. Not only does the facility mirror real-world healthcare settings, it also creates a collaborative environment among students, best preparing them for what their future careers will really look like working alongside their peers.

Facility Highlights

Size: 4,167 square feet

Specialized Rooms: Four hospital rooms, emergency/surgery suite, long-term care/in-home healthcare room

Advanced Equipment: Interactive patient manikins for practicing various medical procedures

Looking Ahead

In her seventh year as President, Carrie is focused on three major projects: expanding partnerships with K-12 schools to target students who struggle to figure out who they are, where they belong, and what they want to do; launching the Achievement Center for adult learners; and implementing a case management model for student advisory to support students through every step of their education journey.

The Achievement Center, set to open this fall, will offer practical, non-credit programs in areas like cybersecurity and CDL training.

“This is a place where you can come get a skill that will get you to a livable wage in a short amount of time,” Carrie said. “Come in, get the skill you need, and get out.”

The Modern Student

While the future for higher education is changing even as we write this, Carrie is positive about the future of M State being a guiding hand for students of all walks of life. And, her edge? She understands the modern student’s needs.

“They’re a very practical group. It’s like, ‘Tell me how I’m going to make money, and how hard it’s going to be, and can I use AI in my classes?’ The real questions. We have to meet people where they’re at,” Carrie said. “The young people I know right now who are coming out of high school refuse to work like their parents worked—and I think that’s a beautiful thing. I really do. It can be frustrating for parents, right? But these young people watched their parents grind and grind and grind, and honestly, miss a lot of stuff of theirs [because of that]… I think this group has really got their heads on straight and they know where their boundaries are, and I think we have to work within that.”

A Legacy of Impact

As she continues to lead M State into the future, Carrie remains committed to the mission that first drew her to education: helping students achieve their highest potential and creating a more equitable and accessible higher education system.

“My job is to help people see beyond what they can see for themselves,” Carrie said. “Sometimes that’s uncomfortable, we don’t want to grow that much. We don’t want to be pushed and nudged, and we’re just comfortable the way we are. Why I keep doing this is because I can remember what it feels like to be a student who doesn’t belong, and I want to try to build systems and support for our students that makes them feel like they absolutely belong here.”

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