**PRESS RELEASE**
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2020
State Auditor’s Office Completes Audit on Offering Nonresident Students Resident Tuition Rates
Contact information: Brianna Ludwig, North Dakota State Auditor’s Office, 701-328-2241, bsludwig@nd.gov
State Auditor Joshua Gallion today released a performance audit that looked at whether offering resident tuition rates to nonresident students would increase enrollment and what would be the financial impact.
Our team looked at two of the colleges within our borders that currently offers nonresident students the same tuition rate as resident students, which are Minot State University and Williston State College. They also looked at 48 colleges and universities in 11 surrounding states and were unable to conclusively state what impact lowering tuition for nonresident students would have on enrollment.
A recent move by all South Dakota public universities to offer resident tuition to students from six surrounding states prompted recent conversations about adjusting North Dakota’s tuition models for nonresident students. If the North Dakota University System were to offer nonresident students the resident tuition rate, we estimated the University System would experience a $9.9 million reduction in revenues per semester. In order to offset this reduction in revenues, the NDUS would need to see an increase in 2,616 full-time students.
State Auditor Gallion commented, “If the North Dakota University System decided to offer nonresident students the resident tuition rates system-wide, there is no guarantee that enrollment would increase. My concern is the loss in revenue that could happen and how the University System would plan to recoup those revenues either from budget cuts or an increase in funding from the general fund.”
For the full report visit http://bit.ly/NDUSnonresidentaudit.