Founded at the urging of Twin Cities business leaders, the Carlson School of Management maintains strong ties with the Minnesota employers. Recruiters from the Twin Cities and across the state and Midwest come to recruit Carlson graduates. MBA students live throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul, since the campus is accessible by car or the public bus system.

Academically, Carlson has a robust information systems department, ranked No. 4 in the specialty in 2008 by U.S. News & World Report. The school administers master's degrees in accounting and business taxation, as well as runs doctoral programs focusing in either business administration or human resources and industrial relations. Carlson also has five dual degrees that are mostly health-oriented, including a MBA/MA, MBA/MPH and MBA/PharmD.

Carlson's MBA program, run in part-time, full-time, executive and global executive formats, begins with a typical core to cover the bases; in the full-time program, requirements are mostly concentrated in the first semester. The school runs four student-led and professor-directed businesses called enterprises that focus in brand management, consulting, funds or venture capital. Students compile electives into concentrations called 'professional portfolios;' the most popular ones are marketing, finance, consulting, IT and operations.