Tuition and fees covered for eligible students at NDSU in new program
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A new program at North Dakota State University will cover all tuition and fees for some Minnesota and North Dakota students.
The program will cover eligible students’ tuition and fees after any scholarships and awards that the students have. In order to qualify, students need to be in their first or second year of college, receive a Pell grant and have a family income of $80,000 a year or less.
The scholarship will be available for the 2024-25 school year.
“I’m excited that eligible students who maybe have not thought about NDSU, or have not thought about college in general, will be able to maybe consider that as an option for them in the near future,” said Seinquis Leinen, NDSU’s senior director for strategic enrollment management.
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The program will go into effect at the same time as Minnesota’s North Star Promise, which will cover tuition at the state’s public universities for Minnesota residents with a family income below $80,000. The state Legislature approved the program earlier this year.
When Minnesota announced the program, North Dakota universities asked their state Legislature to come up with a response. Administrators worried that a promise of free education in Minnesota could encourage potential students to stay in their home state.
That would take a toll on NDSU, which enrolls a lot of Minnesotans. In the fall of 2022, 45 percent of its students came from Minnesota.
“We certainly were aware of these programs when they were first announced,” Leinen said. “Minnesota and North Dakota students make up a large majority of our institution and our student body, and also our state’s workforce. That really was the driving and motivating factor behind us launching this program.”
Last week, Concordia College announced its own version of the program, too.
Declining enrollment was another motivator. College enrollment has been decreasing nationally, including in Minnesota and North Dakota. NDSU has seen its total student body shrink since 2015.
“[We’re] first and foremost keeping our students in mind in launching this program. We’re also keeping the future of our state in mind,” Leinen said.
NDSU expects about 1,000 students to qualify for a total of $3.5 million in aid. Many of the students with Pell grants might already have a significant portion of their tuition covered. This scholarship will make up the difference between that funding and the total cost of tuition and fees.
For now, the program is set to go for just a year. But Leinen said the school is discussing ways to make it renewable beyond the next school year and seeking funding from the state Legislature.
“We want to make sure that this program allows students to seek opportunities in the state of North Dakota,” Leinen said.
