<p>“The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education has classified NDSU in the “Research University/Very High Research Activity” category, which represents 108 of the most research intensive private and public universities in the United States. NDSU is the first and only institution in North Dakota to receive this categorization.[2]
National Rankings [8]
In several National Science Foundation research subcategories for fiscal year 2011, NDSU’s research expenditures rank in the top 100 in several areas, including expenditures for agricultural sciences, social sciences, physical sciences, chemistry, psychology and computer science.
NDSU’s research expenditures ranks 127th out of 912 research universities in the U.S. The ranking is based on total research expenditures reported in fiscal year 2011 to the National Science Foundation. NDSU’s total research expenditures were $134 million for fiscal year 2011, the most recent year available in the national research survey.
Forbes.com lists Fargo, ND as No. 5 in an article called “Top College Towns for Jobs.” The article suggests that research universities are conducive to great environments for business, providing an educated labor force and centers of innovation stemming from university research.[9]”</p>
<p>Granted, you probably know more about NDSU than I do. I’ve read about it for 30 seconds on Wikipedia and I know it always wins the second division football championship. But nothing that I’ve read suggests to me that it’s as bad of a school as you say.</p>
<p>Still, if you don’t like sports there’s some definite negatives about it. What are your other options? Look into schools outside of North Dakota that offer a lot of scholarships and financial aid. Are there any schools (in South Dakota, maybe?) that offer in-state tuition to residents of other states? I know that’s a thing at some schools.</p>