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Educated Workforce
North Dakota is home to 19 college and university campuses, one of the highest ratios of college institutions per college-aged population, according to Economy.com. More than 90 percent of North Dakota residents have access to higher education within 45 minutes of their homes, and nearly all North Dakotans have access to higher education through distance learning opportunities, according to a North Dakota University System 2003 study.
Click here for a Map of North Dakota Universities
The North Dakota University System (NDUS) has been a unified system of public higher education since 1990. The 11-campus system includes two doctoral universities, one master’s degree-granting university, three universities that offer bachelor’s degrees and five, two-year colleges that offer associate and trade/technical degrees.
The NDUS part-time and full-time degree credit headcount enrollments continue to increase and are at an all-time high of 42,503 students (Fall 2004 Enrollment Report). This is in addition to an annual total of 7,166 non-degree-seeking students and 14,904 non-credit students who were served during AY 2003.
Headcount per University - Fall 2004
| Bismarck State College |
3,546 |
| Dickinson State University |
2,479 |
| Lake Region State College |
1,464 |
| Mayville State University |
897 |
| Minot State University |
3,851 |
| MiSU-Bottineau Campus |
602 |
| ND State College of Science |
2,481 |
| North Dakota State University |
12,026 |
| University of North Dakota |
13,187 |
| Valley City State University |
1,033 |
| Williston State College |
937 |
This mixture of high numbers of colleges and high numbers of college students results in the potential to populate North Dakota’s workforce with talented, highly educated workers. In a Feb. 24, 2004 article in USA Today, the reporter said, “…the emphasis on higher education…is producing economic thoroughbreds.”
There’s more:
The number of businesses that used North Dakota’s workforce training system to provide training for their employees increased 188 percent between FY 2000 and FY 2003. The number of employees who received training increased 32 percent during the same time period.
In a 2003 North Dakota University System study, businesses reported a 99.9 percent average workforce training satisfaction level for FY 2003. Employees reported a satisfaction level of 98.5 percent with workforce training during the same period.
In FY 2003, companies reported a 99.9 percent satisfaction level with responsiveness of the workforce training system in North Dakota to requests for training.
More than 85 percent of NDUS alumni reported overall satisfaction with the quality of instruction at the college or university the attended, and 96 percent would recommend the school to someone else.
Real dollar research has grown by more than 50 percent over the last four years with $92 million in research expenditures in FY 2003.
The 2001 national graduation rate was 29.8 percent for two-year colleges and 54 percent for four-year universities. When the effects of successful transfers and students who are still enrolled are taken into account, North Dakota two-year colleges have an adjusted graduation/transfer/retention rate of 71.3 percent, and four-year students have an 80.5 percent adjusted graduation/transfer/retention rate.
In FY 2003, the NDUS spent a total of $14,914 per student from all funding sources, the majority of which was spent in support of its core services of instruction, research and public service.
During AY 2002-03, NDUS students taking one of 26 different national examinations required to practice in professions from accounting to veterinary medicine achieved a pass rate of 80 percent or higher on 14 of the 26 national examinations. In fact, NDUS students achieved scores of 100 percent on four of the 26 national examinations (Chemical and Mechanical Engineering, Pharmacy Technician and Physical Therapy Assistant).
In the May 2003 issue of University Business magazine, Bismarck State College was cited as a national leader in energy education.
Dickinson State University is one of 10 campuses in the United States to be named a member of the Global Access Project with the U.S. Department of State.
The University of North Dakota has the largest non-military fleet of pilot-training aircraft at any single location in the world.
Valley City State University is ranked as the seventh most-wired campus in the country by Yahoo Internet magazine. It was one of the first complete laptop universities in the nation.
North Dakota State University’s 2003 research expenditures are estimated at $92 million, as reported to the National Science Foundation. That total is more than double the 1999 expenditures of $44.6 million.
North Dakota State University’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering has added 29 full-time positions during the 2002-2003, including scientists, engineers and senior support staff.
New external grants for research and program development at the University of North Dakota surpassed $71 million for 2003.
The Simulator Maintenance Technician Program at Lake Region State College is one of two programs of its kind in the United States.
Related Links:
North Dakota University System
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction
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