Jeff Holm said North Dakota has the largest number of public institutions per capita, but the number of people in North Dakota doesn't make the system sustainable without out-of-state students.
"If every student who ever went to a North Dakota high school, whether they graduated or not, enrolled in a North Dakota school, it is not enough to sustain that system," he said. "So the system has to have some out-of-state students."
At UND, online students are especially important.
UND reached a record-breaking enrollment of 15,844 this fall semester, though that number fluctuates even after UND releases its census. As of Monday, Nov. 17, UND had 16,155 students, Holm said. Of the official enrollment numbers, 31 percent are taking only face-to-face on-campus courses, 35 percent are taking both face-to-face and online courses and 34 percent are taking only online courses.
The number of students taking online courses has increased since COVID. Comparing the fall semester before COVID to this fall semester, there has been a 60 percent increase in students taking only online courses and an increase of 98 percent in students taking both online and face-to-face courses, Holm said.
This year's number of on-campus students has been estimated to be a little more than 10,500, UND reported earlier this fall.
State lawmakers have recently started conversations about the importance of online programs. Earlier this month, legislators dug into the amount of subsidizing the state does for online courses, according to a report by the North Dakota Monitor. A presentation by the University System said the state is spending approximately $22 million on online courses for out-of-state students — not including those from Minnesota, Montana or South Dakota — for the most recent two-year budget cycle.
Holm said an interim committee of the Legislature is looking at if the state is providing funding in a way that is maximizing return on investment. The question, he said, is how to bring those students to North Dakota's workforce.
"What does North Dakota do to let them know, 'hey, there are opportunities here?'" he said.
Holm raised the idea of partnering with companies. The companies could support online programs, such as an engineering firm supporting the online engineering program, and UND could display some information about the firm in Blackboard, the system UND uses for courses.
Even while living out of state, the tuition online students pay is also important, Holm said. For instance, UND brings in about $16 million a year from out-of-state tuition. For every $1 UND gets from the state, it gets $2 from online, out-of-state tuition. Some online courses also require students to come to campus for a short time, meaning they are staying and spending money in North Dakota. Out-of-state students also add brand awareness, representing UND wherever they live through wearing UND gear, displaying their diploma or talking about the school.
The biggest online program at UND is engineering. It was the first accredited online engineering program in the world, Holm said, and continues to be well known. Other popular online programs include psychology, social work, grad level education programs such as special ed and counseling, as well as master's level courses in nursing, space studies, social work, business and more.
UND does make an effort to help online students feel like part of the university community, Holm said. Some programs have students on campus for a few weeks as part of their education. There are also online resources for students, such as an online platform for them to work together, talk and ask each other questions.
"We call it a peer-led learning platform," Holm said. "That, I think, is an important thing to help students feel a part (of campus) and connected."
UND also tries to stream as many on-campus events as possible for online students to watch. The Office of Student Affairs also holds trivia nights online students can take part in and send out t-shirts to students. Some alumni events held in different cities try to reach out to active online students and welcome them to attend.
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