The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (later Corporation), most commonly known as MECC, was an organization founded in 1973 best known for developing the edutainment video game series The Oregon Trail and its spin-offs.

In 1963, their presence inspired a group of teachers at the University of Minnesota College of Education's laboratory school to introduce computers into classrooms via teleprinters and time-sharing.

The presence of computer-company employees on many school boards accelerated the expansion of TIES and helped make Minnesota a leader in computer-based education.

The University of Minnesota Computer Center (UCC as it was called then) rejected implementing MULTI due to concerns about system stability.

After doing test runs with several other universities' mail programs, two developers at UCC implemented their own version, which also contained a message board feature, and was the campus-wide e-mail solution for a couple of years.

Through what InfoWorld described as an "enviable showcase" for its products Apple sold more than 2,000 computers during the next three years[13] and more than 5,000 by 1983,[12] making MECC the company's largest reseller.

MECC offered computer training to teachers and administrators, and 10 consortium consultants traveled throughout the state assisting school districts.

[2][11] MECC distributed The Oregon Trail and other titles in its library to Minnesota schools for free, and charged others $10 to $20 for diskettes, each containing several programs.

[17] During its lifetime, the company produced a number of programs that would become well known to Generation X and Millennial students across the U.S.[1] Besides Oregon Trail, titles included The Secret Island of Dr.

The game Freedom!, which had the player try to escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad, was released in 1992 but pulled from the market in 1993 following complaints from parents about its classroom use.

[1] Although MECC continued to develop software after its acquisition, including the successful Oregon Trail II in 1995, Softkey (then named The Learning Company) was acquired by Mattel in 1999 in what Businessweek called one of "the Worst Deals of All Time",[20] leading to the a great deal of financial repercussions that year, including the closure of the MECC offices in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, in October 1999.