South Dakota Board of Regents
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, Oct. 20, 2005
For more information: Janelle Toman, 605-773-3455

Non-Resident Tuition Rates Adjusted Downward

VERMILLION, S.D. – The South Dakota Board of Regents agreed Thursday to lower non-resident tuition rates for first-time freshmen and new transfer students to 150 percent of in-state rates starting next summer. The move seeks to make a South Dakota public university education more attractive to regional and international students.

The action was recommended by a tuition and fee review committee which has studied the issue since last March. 

“The committee found compelling data on projected high school enrollments in South Dakota and neighboring states,” said Regents President Harvey C. Jewett. “South Dakota’s high school graduation numbers are expected to decline by 13 percent over the next decade, and similar declines are projected for other states in the Upper Midwest region.” 

South Dakota needs to grow its non-resident enrollments to offset some of these declines, the committee recommended. A new non-resident tuition policy and enhanced marketing efforts in key states and international markets were suggested.

The new policy will mean significantly lower tuition rates for first-time freshmen and new transfers from 32 states, as well as international students. Those students currently would pay the full non-resident rate of $242.60 per credit hour, or 317 percent of what residents pay. The new rate will translate to $114.55 per credit hour.

Jewett noted that students from 15 western states participating in the Western Undergraduate Exchange program, as well as those from Iowa and Nebraska, already pay 150 percent of the resident tuition rate. Minnesota students currently pay about 156 percent of the resident rate through a special reciprocity agreement with that state. For financial reasons, students already enrolled in the public university system prior to summer 2006 will not be eligible for the new non-resident rate. Jewett said campuses will work with these returning students on aid issues and explain how the program will be phased in. 

Jewett said the board anticipates the change will attract enough additional students to more than offset any tuition fund losses. It is estimated an extra 194 students would be needed to make up the loss of the higher non-resident rate. Enrollment is projected to increase by more than that number—particularly from Wisconsin, Illinois, and international countries—in the third year of implementation.