A Legislative interim committee has begun looking at ways to respond to Minnesota’s new higher education scholarship program for in-state students.
The “North Star Promise” program would provide students whose families earn $80,000 or less to attend Minnesota colleges free of tuition.
North Dakota colleges who have a significant enrollment of Minnesota students are concerned about what effect it will have on their campuses.
"The impact is great," said Mayville State University President Dr. Brian Van Horn. "Especially for Mayville State, which is close to the Minnesota line."
Van Horn told the Interim High Education Committee his college gets a lot of students from all over the state of Minnesota.
"A lot of those small town students find it a comfortable place to learn and live," Van Horn said. "In fact, in many cases, the students will stay and make their lives in North Dakota."
North Dakota State School of Science president Dr. Rod Flanigan echoed those concerns. His school is in Wahpeton.
"Those of you in business know that it's 10 times harder getting a new customer than retaining it," Flanigan said. "That's our challenge with students."
North Dakota's two largest universities have a significant number of students from Minnesota. UND President Andrew Armacost told the Committee the issue is larger than just the Minnesota program.
"You see the enrollment trends that are predicted over time," Armacost said. "This is going to be decades in the making."
Armacost said North Dakota's colleges need to position themselves smartly for the future.
"Not just reacting to what we see across the border, but what the challenges will be across a long period of time," Armacost said.
NDSU President David Cook told the Committee it is also a workforce issue – because a number of the students from Minnesota who come to NDSU stay in North Dakota.
"Industry input, engaging industry that's part of a task force, getting them involved, their engagement, their ideas on to to solve these problems — I think that's incredibly important," Cook said.
There had been some discussion of a special session to look at the issue – but that has not yet been decided.
