Legislators probe $38.9M in tuition waivers, ask for campus‑level guardrails

Brenda, presenting the system’s 2024–25 waiver report, told the Interim Higher Education Committee that gross tuition across campuses was $354,500,000 and that institutions waived $38,900,000 — about 10.9% of gross tuition. She said 42,040 degree‑seeking students were enrolled and 11,193 received waivers, a 26.62% recipient rate.

The report breaks waivers into three categories: statutorily required, state‑board required and institutional‑discretion waivers. Brenda said statutorily required waivers accounted for 3.1% of the total and state‑board required waivers 4.6%, while institutional discretionary waivers made up the remainder and are ‘‘strategic tools’’ campuses use to recruit and retain students. She noted a federal change under the PACT Act increased eligibility for some veteran‑dependent waivers.

Committee members asked for more detail about how partial waivers are reported and whether campuses must publish waiver decision criteria. Senator Sorevog and others pressed whether campus policies or board limits exist for waiver amounts; Brenda answered that partial waivers are any waiver less than 100% and that institutions manage their own institutional waivers, and she offered to supply a breakout of partial vs. full waivers after the meeting.

On athletics, Brenda said athletic waivers represent a relatively small share of waiver dollars — roughly 4.3–4.7% — and that athletic scholarship/waiver practices differ across two‑ and four‑year campuses.

David Krebsbach of the North Dakota University System Office then reviewed tuition‑setting policy (policy 805.1) and the system’s rate categories: Minnesota reciprocity (112% resident undergrad rate; 127% grad), contiguous states and other out‑of‑state tiers (120% and 150%), and an international rate at 175% of resident tuition. He said the board approves rates annually but noted there are frequent campus exceptions. The committee discussed how differences in base tuition levels affect the aggregate waiver figures reported (a campus charging $1,000 then waiving tuition shows a larger waived amount than a campus charging $100 and waiving it).

What’s next: committee members asked staff to return with partial‑vs‑full waiver breakdowns, any board policies or transparency requirements about institutional waiver guardrails, and campus‑level explanations for high variance in waiver reliance across campuses. The committee also flagged the need to consider waiver effects when reviewing net tuition revenue and institutional reserve calculations.