Minot State University is making some changes in its tuition model.
It’ll be before the Board of Higher Education later this month.
"When the current model we've been using was first put in, It was designed to associate on-line and distance education expenses with the revenues, and put them into a separate bucket," said Minot State Vice-President for Administration and Finance Brent Winiger.
Winiger said since that time, on-line education has growin to about a quarter of the classes the University offers.
"The revenues are now outstripping expenses," Winiger said. "That's gotten a bit out of whack."
And Winiger said with the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears even more classes may be going on-line this fall. So he said University administration has proposed a change.
"It basically makes a credit, a credit," Winiger said. "No matter what class you're taking, it's going to be an identical structure."
Winiger said it gives the University more flexibility, and puts the revenues and expenses all in the same bucket, to be allocated as needed.
"It makes us more nimble and flexible, in terms of putting operational budgets together," Winger said. "And it's more transparent, and simplifies everything."
Winiger said Minot State is hoping a more simplified tuition plan will help students as they prepare for the fall semester. He said this could help some students, who may be affected by the economic hardships the pandemic has caused.
"Some people aren't sure what their personal situations will be," Winiger said. "There have been a nunber of people who have lost jobs, and a lot of students I've talked to lost their jobs over the summer."
Winiger said some of the jobs are coming back.
"What we're seeing is a lot of uncertainty right now," Winiger said.
The full Board of Higher Education will look at the plan June 30th.
