Experience w/ U of MN Dive Program?

[JBPearson]

I looked into it when I was there and it was just the classroom portion.  You still had to  do your Open Water through someone else.  It's been a few years so things may have changed.  If you are looking at certification, I would go through a local dive shop.  Unless the U of M class is affiliated with a shop, I doubt they can be as helpful and thorough in all aspects of your training.  I won't try to tell you which shop to go to.  There are actually quite a few around here.  The Dive Shops section of this website helps a bit but I don't even think all of them are on there...http://www.mnscuba.com/diveshops.html
Good luck!