Higher education is a competitive business, and it is hard to understand why the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education delayed a decision to allow North Dakota institutions to match the in-state tuition recently offered by South Dakota institutions to students in neighboring states. It makes no sense.
Board member Casey Ryan was correct . ("North Dakota State Board of Higher Education mulls in-state tuition for some out-of-state students" published Dec. 7) We need to hire the best possible presidents and trust them to react immediately in situations like this to keep North Dakota competitive. More important, rather than reacting, our presidents should be doing everything in their power to separate their schools from similar schools in neighboring states to make them more competitive.
High school students are shopping universities and it is a highly competitive business. I can’t imagine allowing another retailer to have a lower price than we do on the same product, have better customer service than we do, or have better facilities. Our universities should have similar goals and be supported by the NDUS board. We are either improving and growing our enrollment, or we are falling behind neighboring states.
