GRAND FORKS — Online programs in the North Dakota University System and the nonresident students enrolled in them are key to sustaining the 11-institution system, said the University of North Dakota’s vice provost for strategic programming, analytics and effectiveness.

Jeff Holm said North Dakota has the largest number of public institutions per capita, but the number of people in North Dakota doesn’t make the system sustainable without out-of-state students.

“If every student who ever went to a North Dakota high school, whether they graduated or not, enrolled in a North Dakota school, it is not enough to sustain that system,” he said. “So the system has to have some out-of-state students.”

At UND, online students are especially important.

UND reached a record-breaking enrollment of 15

See Full Page