looking at buying a Cessna 180 that was a pipeline plane off the factory floor, and then after 4 years it changed owners to the university of Wisconsin and then a few years later it switched to the university of Minnesota. What is the mostly likely use for a Cessna 180 at the two Univesities (back in the late 60's)? Would this have been used to teach students to fly?

Probably on floats?

You could probably get an idea by reviewing the airplane's logs. A quick Google search indicates that the U of M does have a complete flight training curriculum, but the U of W doesn't seem to--at least, I couldn't find it.

I wouldn't be bothered by the airplane being used for advanced training, but I'd be concerned if it was used for ab initio training, which tends to beat the heck out of any airplane.

Cary