Northern Marianas College seeks $15.3M; lawmakers press on FEMA match, staffing and facilities costs

Hafa Adai. Northern Marianas College President and senior staff told the House Ways and Means Committee on May 20 that the college’s fiscal year 2026 request totals $15,300,000 and would support new buildings, staffing and operations while the institution pursues federal grants to cover construction and program costs.

The presentation highlighted recent program results — including small-business support, workforce training and digital upgrades — and walked lawmakers through a campus facilities master plan that NMC officials said has secured more than $100 million in federal funding but still faces shortfalls for furniture, fixtures, equipment and a roughly 10% local match on some FEMA project worksheets.

“The chair will now call today’s budget hearing with NMC to order,” Representative JP Sablan said at the start of the session, and committee members proceeded to hear a multi-part briefing from college leaders, departmental deans and program managers.

Why it matters: NMC is the commonwealth’s principal public higher-education institution and a hub for workforce training and small-business development across Saipan, Tinian and Rota. Committee members repeatedly framed the hearing as an assessment of how much the House should allocate from local appropriations versus the college’s ability to use federal grants and internal revenue to cover costs that cannot be federally matched.

Program results and initiatives: Roman Tadella, marketing manager for the CNMI Small Business Development Center hosted at NMC, told the committee the SBDC has helped launch 39 businesses, supported over 1,100 local jobs and “helped inject more than $1,600,000 in capital into our local economy.”…