Good value for the money, great school for a diverse variety of outdoor activities. Beautiful running/hiking trails walking distance from school (used to walk to school through Chester Creek), kayaking, skiing (Spirit Mt about 15 minutes away, can ski between class if you want and you have the hill/park to yourself), not to mention some of the best swimming holes you've ever been to (during a short season). With the city being built on a large hill, you can get really good at longboarding too. Great views, but if you've been to Duluth you already know all this.
Considerations:
-When it comes to late night food delivery, there are few options. When it comes to late night dining near campus, there are almost 0.
-If your college experience must consist of tailgating and getting hammered for a big football game, don't go to UMD. You can do that for the hockey games (minus tailgating, there's free buses that go from campus to the arena though), and you have all day to be productive beforehand.
-If you're not ready to move away from home/friends and meet new people, don't go to UMD....
-It can get cold..
It's a small school, you're not going to run into a lot of alums everywhere you go later in life, but you can leave with a degree and ample experience in outdoor activities.
Same thing I'll say to anybody considering going to college--if you have a plan, go for it. If you don't know what you're trying to become in life, then maybe you're not ready for school. At least if you go to UMD, assuming you're an in-state resident, you're not going to be as broke if you don't make it all the way through. Duluth is a relatively cheap city to live in.