Leaders of the North Dakota Tribal College System asked the Senate Appropriations, Education and Environment Division on Thursday for an additional $200,000 to raise the state’s non‑beneficiary appropriation to $1.6 million.

The request was presented by Tracy Bauer, executive director of the North Dakota Tribal College System, and supported by presidents and representatives from member institutions, who emphasized tribal colleges’ economic contributions, student counts and service to rural communities.

Bauer told the committee the system served about 2,600 students and employed roughly 650 full‑time staff in 2022–23. She said a recent economic impact study showed $169.5 million in combined impacts — including alumni and operations spending — and described a benefit ratio of $1.30 returned to taxpayers for every dollar invested in tribal colleges. Bauer said the system’s request is a $200,000 increase to bring the non‑beneficiary line to $1.6 million.

United Tribes Technical College President Leander McDonald told the panel United Tribes had a spring semester census of 531 students and that roughly 3% of current enrollment were non‑beneficiaries. He and other presidents described recruitment, retention and completion as priorities, and said additional non‑beneficiary funding would support tuition assistance, student health services, career development and infrastructure improvements.

Sitting Bull College President Tommy K. Phillips said Sitting Bull’s spring enrollment was 311 with 12 non‑beneficiary students. Chandeska Cikana Community College President Steven Smith said his college had 266 students with about 25 non‑beneficiaries (roughly 15–18%). Turtle Mountain College interim president Wanda Parisian said TMC enrolled 567 students this semester and estimated 95% of their students are tribal members and about 5% are non‑beneficiaries.

Brenda (last name given in testimony as Zastropol) of the North Dakota University System told the committee that the state’s non‑beneficiary payments are calculated on full‑time equivalency (FTE). She said the system currently budgets using a federal rate in the formula and that some prior years’ FTE totals were 69, 89 and 98; the variation affected the appropriation needed to match enrollment in a given year.

Committee members asked about transferability of credits, enrollment trends and pipeline issues. McDonald said tribal colleges work with the North Dakota University System on general education transfer agreements and articulation agreements among tribal colleges.

The committee did not take formal action; Chair Sorvaugh said the committee will consider the request during its budget deliberations.

The testimony combined economic data, institution‑level enrollment figures and program priorities and framed the increase as necessary to sustain recruitment and support services for non‑beneficiary students.