WSJ: North Dakota Now the Hot Destination for OOS Students

College Search & Selection
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<p>North</a> Dakota Lures College Students - WSJ.com</p>

<p>Excerpt:</p>

<p>"I found it online, showed it to my Dad and he was impressed," says California resident Samantha Carlson, who graduated in May from North Dakota's Valley City State University, where her younger brother is now enrolled. For California residents, North Dakota colleges cost about $10,000 a year in tuition and fees compared to about $12,000 in the University of California system.</p>

<p>Many students hail from states far beyond the region. Floridians numbered 182 in 2010, up from 37 in 2000. During the same period, international enrollment rose to 1,600 from 1,125.</p>

<p>"My roommates are from Mongolia and South Korea," says Delaney McCormack, a Kansas resident studying technical theatre and design at North Dakota State.</p>

<p>This isn't happening by accident. A dozen years ago, a years-long decline in the number of state high school graduates was accelerating. Faced with the prospect of closing academic departments or entire schools, university leaders instead moved to attract more students, particularly from beyond state borders.</p>

<p>The state poured money into improving academics. In the National Science Foundation's rankings by federal research expenditures—a key measure of prestige for research universities—North Dakota State and University of North Dakota each jumped ahead of more than 30 other institutions over the past 11 years, to the 147th and 143rd spots, respectively.</p>

<p>While improving its schools, North Dakota kept tuition low. In recent years, state revenues gushing from an oil boom in western North Dakota have given the state more resources to lure nonresidents.</p>

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<p>This is nice, but also a bit of a joke. ND is my home state and I love it, and you actually can get a decent (even excellent) education there. But there is a strong anti-education streak in the state legislature, and I hate to predict how things will look in the future. For example, they recently considered a constitutional amendment to replace the State Board of Higher Education and the Superintendent of Public Education with a group of 12 folks (all appointed by the governor) who would oversee ALL public education, from preschool through the university level. While the Senate eventually voted against the measure (7 - 40), the House actually passed it (52 - 40). Any guesses what would have happened to funding for public education in ND had it passed?</p>