South Dakota clarifies end of longstanding college tuition agreement with Minnesota

SIOUX FALLS — South Dakota students planning to attend Minnesota public schools are facing financial uncertainty after the South Dakota Board of Regents quietly ended tuition reciprocity with their eastern-border neighbors late last year.

The Board of Regents (BOR) Academic and Student Affairs Office in Pierre this week alerted high schools that a longstanding shared tuition discount agreement with Minnesota for cross-border students attending their schools is over. The agreement dates back to 1978.

The change eliminates a tuition discount for South Dakota students attending college in Minnesota.

“The reciprocity agreement between South Dakota and Minnesota was not renewed for the academic year 2024 – 2025,” BOR’s System Academic Program Manager Molly Weisgram wrote in an email sent to school guidance counselors Wednesday. “Our state has excellent higher education institutions and opportunities, and our goal as the public university system is to grow South Dakota’s workforce.”

Response to North Star Promise

BOR made the move to end reciprocity in December, amid the backdrop of Minnesota’s aggressive tuition subsidization, the North Star Promise, that will make college free for tens of thousands of North Star State scholars beginning this fall. At the same time, the South Dakota Regents extended in-state tuition to Minnesota residents.

The shift is intended to attract Minnesotans to South Dakota universities, lowering tuition for Minnesota residents attending a South Dakota’s regental institutions by about $1,400 a year, according to BOR.

“By treating new Minnesota students just like students from the other surrounding states, it reduced the annual cost to new Minnesota students, keeping South Dakota competitive when considering overall cost of attendance, even for students who qualify for Minnesota’s new program,” BOR Vice President Jeff Partridge told The Dakota Scout Thursday.

It also means South Dakotans enrolled now or in the future at Minnesota public universities could have to pay full in-state tuition in the fall. And for those who’ve already committed to being Gophers, Beavers, Dragons, or to dozens of other Minnesota higher-ed programs, the late warning is not appreciated — particularly for parents and seniors who’ve already cut checks.

Notification timing

“We have already paid admission fees and deposits, selected housing, and even signed a housing contract for next year,” said Erin Pritchett, a Sioux Falls mom whose son is admitted to the University of Minnesota, suggesting the Regents could have considered a delayed-implementation plan or alerted high schools earlier. “If the South Dakota Board of Regents made this decision back in December, I am confused as to why people were not notified back then regarding this change?”

BOR contends the public was notified of reciprocity with Minnesota being terminated, citing a Dec. 14 press release announcing Minnesota, Kansas and Missouri being added to the list of states offered “South Dakota Advantage” rates.

The release, though, did not articulate that reciprocity with Minnesota was terminated, saying only that “the rates will go into effect for new students enrolled in the 2024 summer term and beyond.”

That, coupled with an update to the Regent’s website this week explicitly stating Minnesota reciprocity has ended, and BOR’s first correspondence to high schools casts doubts on BOR’s efforts to publicize the change in December.

“We can only answer the questions from our end, and many of your questions will need to be directed to the specific Minnesota institutions,” read the Wednesday email to school guidance counselors. “We appreciate your support of students as they navigate this change.”

Emails from The Scout to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education were responded to with a link to the agency’s website and a referral to the BOR office in Pierre.

On their website, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education clarifies that students currently enrolled will continue to receive the reciprocity rate until they finish the degree program they’re enrolled in.

‘Increasing South Dakota’s competitive advantage’

The Regents maintain the decision is what’s best for South Dakota in a highly-competitive enrollment environment among U.S. universities, a motivator for BOR and the Legislature to approve of a fourth consecutive year of tuition freezes at its academic institutions Thursday.

“By ending the reciprocity agreement, we were able to lower the rate for new Minnesota students, increasing South Dakota’s competitive advantage,” BOR’s Communication Director Shuree Mortenson said. “How Minnesota chooses to respond, and the rates it sets for South Dakota students, is not something the South Dakota Board of Regents controls.”

North Star Promise

Beginning in the fall of 2024, according to Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education, the North Star Promise scholarship program will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a “last-dollar” program by covering the balance of tuition and fees remaining after other scholarships, grants, stipends and tuition waivers have been applied.

Eligibility requirements include a family adjusted gross income as reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Minnesota Dream Act Application below $80,000.

For more information, visit the Office of Higher Education’s website at ohe.state.mn.us. For information about how Minnesota’s programs compares to other states, go to the Campaign for Free College Tuition at freecollegenow.org.

The Minnesota State system has reported higher enrollment for the 2024-25 school year, the first time in a decade, and Chancellor Scott Olson has credited the new North Star Promise program and the American Indian Scholars Program, both established after a 2023 boost in funding, for the spike.

North Dakota responded to the North Star Promise program by creating a new scholarship program, after North Dakota State University President David Cook spoke of “catastrophic implications” to the state’s school due to North Star Promise.

Pioneer Press reports were used in this story.