The chairman of the North Dakota Senate Appropriations Committee says the Legislature has given campuses and the board of Higher Education flexibility in terms of setting out-of-state tuition rates.
At a recent Board meeting, Board chairman Don Morton said he would like the campus presidents to be given more flexibility in setting those rates, based on their campus’ needs.
"The Legislature agreed," said Sen. Ray Holmberg (R-Grand Forks), chairman of Senate Appropriations.
Holmberg said that flexibility came in the budget bill for higher education, passed in the 2017 session.
"We put a cap on in-state resident tuition," Holmberg said. "But we said this does not apply to out of state students, nor does it apply to the Medical School, the Law School (both at UND), nor the School of Pharmacy (at NDSU)."
Holmberg said the Board and the campuses have free reign to set the levels they feel are appropriate."
Holmberg also said there is also no floor for out of state tuition.
Morton said out of state students are valuable to the colleges, and help support the colleges’ infrastructure.