Students, schools watch for impact of ending South Dakota tuition reciprocity

South Dakota will end its tuition reciprocity agreement with Minnesota in May. For more than four decades the agreement discounted the cost of higher education tuition for students on both sides of the border.

While the move has raised concerns about college affordability, in the short term it may make little difference.

According to the most recent numbers, about 3,400 Minnesotans attended school in South Dakota under the reciprocity agreement, while nearly a thousand South Dakotans enrolled in Minnesota schools. 

The end of the agreement arrives as colleges across the country expect enrollment to drop in coming years. Competition to recruit from the shrinking pool of high school graduates is intensifying. So, many states are launching programs to attract and retain students.

North Star Promise

Last year Minnesota lawmakers created the North Star Promise program. It offers free tuition and fees to Minnesota residents who attend public school in-state, if their families make less than $80,000 a year.  

Soon after North Dakota State University announced it was going to try to match Minnesota's program.

The South Dakota Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s six public universities, decided on a different approach and announced in December that it was ending the reciprocity agreement while offering reduced tuition for Minnesota residents.

Nathan Lukkes, executive director of the board, said the termination of the agreement was in response to the changing collegiate landscape and to remain competitive.

“We’re hoping that with the lower price point, we can continue to attract more and [more] Minnesota students to come to South Dakota for their education,” Lukkes said. “We greatly appreciated a longstanding relationship, and the environment has changed and we thought this action was necessary. But, we absolutely keep open the opportunity to work in collaboration with our counterparts in Minnesota. …We’re more than happy to have those conversations and try to broker a deal that ultimately benefits students in both of our states.”

Tuition may be cheaper

The end of reciprocity means Minnesota residents could actually be paying less attending a public university in South Dakota.

Also, Keith Hovis of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education said many of Minnesota State’s schools still offer in-state or reduced tuition to South Dakotans, and added that “this does not mean in any way that Minnesota schools will immediately become less attainable for South Dakota students or that costs will or that they won’t have access to other grants or scholarships.”

The University of Minnesota said current South Dakota students will have their reciprocity rates continue through graduation. Students who applied to start their undergraduate studies this fall will also be offered the rate because news of the change came so late in the admissions cycle.

And the U will decide later how it will approach upcoming years and rates for graduate and professional programs.

Myriad ways to fund their education

College admissions counselors are telling families not to panic over the tuition reciprocity agreement ending. Nora Main, president of the Minnesota Association for College Admission Counseling, wanted them to understand that reciprocity is just one of many resources to help fund educational opportunities.

“I would urge families to continue to proceed with their intended path,” Main said. “They should not reverse course. They should continue to hope and believe in their educational opportunities and the myriad of ways that they can fund their education.”

School administrators encouraged students and families to contact their individual institutions’ financial aid offices to receive more information.

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