Case Study: University of Minnesota achieves a scalable, reliable cloud LMS and improved teaching and learning with Canvas LMS

Flagship Institution Finds a Match to Its Structural Needs With Switch to Canvas

The University of Minnesota, a large public research university with multiple campuses and about 55,000 users, faced growing pain with its self-hosted Moodle LMS: heavy annual maintenance, scaling limits, rising unplanned outages, and limited IT time for teaching-and-learning projects. Seeking a cloud-based platform that could support distributed administration, promote innovation, and deliver reliable uptime, the university launched a multi-semester Canvas pilot to evaluate options.

After a two-year pilot beginning in 2015, UMN adopted Canvas in 2017. Canvas’ cloud-native architecture, intuitive UI, robust grading and analytics tools (like SpeedGrader and “what‑if” grades), and easier integrations reduced infrastructure burden, freed IT to focus on pedagogy, and improved reliability. Results included strong user satisfaction—over 90% of instructors found Canvas useful and over 90% of students were comfortable with it within weeks—plus reported student preference for Canvas and better scalability, accessibility, and return on investment.

University of Minnesota

Donalee Attardo

Senior Director, Academic Technology