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Dual credit grows; lawmakers, system officials debate pricing, access and out‑of‑state online competition
Summary
The committee reviewed dual‑credit enrollment (about 6,000 high‑school students, ~28,000 credit hours) and current reimbursement rules; members raised concerns that national online providers are competing for North Dakota students and discussed policy options to broaden in‑state dual‑credit access.
Commissioner Brent Sanford told the Higher Education Funding Committee that dual credit and early entry courses have grown substantially: systemwide dual‑credit headcount was roughly 6,000 in 2025 with about 28,000 credit hours (an average of about 4–5 credits per dual‑credit student). Sanford said dual credit now represents a visible and growing portion of institutions’ headcounts and that the board recently allowed UND and NDSU to provide dual credit in their home counties.
Sanford explained the current board policy pricing: when a K‑12 instructor provides the college course (a subsidized arrangement), the reimbursement example was $87 per credit; when an NDUS instructor delivers the course, the unsubsidized rate shown was $154 per credit (both are lower than the weighted per‑credit values some institutions receive under the full formula due to tier/differential base rates of roughly $79–119 per credit for different institution types). Committee members noted that those tiered rates produce substantial per‑course funding differences across campuses.
Lawmakers expressed two linked policy concerns: (1) local school districts and state institutions should coordinate so dual credit grows through NDUS offerings rather than outside providers; and (2) national online providers (for example, Arizona State and Western Governors University were cited) already serve thousands of North Dakotans and are entering dual‑credit markets because of price and platform advantages. Sanford and members discussed governance limits—dual credit authority rests with the state board and local school districts are still the 'gatekeepers'—and the complexities of allowing UND and NDSU to expand statewide dual‑credit offerings without building new institutional delivery capacity in every high school.
No immediate policy change was adopted. Committee members asked staff to analyze dual‑credit costs, AP overlap, stickiness (how many dual‑credit students go on to NDUS institutions; Sanford cited a figure near 61%), and how board policy or legislative change might affect competition with out‑of‑state providers.
