When it comes to serving the needs of the citizens of North Dakota, one higher ed institution stands head and shoulders above the rest. But don’t take my word for it, there are statistics that support that bold claim.
While the governor and state Legislature debate the pros and cons of changing the governance of our state's public colleges and universities, a move that we have opposed in this column, one institution quietly continues its mission of providing a quality education at an affordable price and turning out graduates who enter jobs with higher starting wages than other public colleges and universities.
That institution is Bismarck’s own Bismarck State College.
Did you know that of all 7,000-plus students in North Dakota taking the ACT last year, BSC was listed as the first choice by more students than any other college or university in the state? North Dakota State University was second and the University of North Dakota was third.
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Did you know that BSC enrolled more North Dakota freshmen than any other North Dakota college or university? BSC enrolled 806 North Dakota freshmen in the fall of 2018 while NDSU enrolled 796 and UND enrolled 677.
It is shocking to me that two institutions enrolled fewer than 100 North Dakota freshmen and still three others enrolled fewer than 200.
While 93.3 percent of BSC’s first-time freshmen are from North Dakota, NDSU and UND drew only 35 percent and 35.9 percent respectively.
Both UND and NDSU continue to see enrollments decline with 2018 numbers down by about 5 percent from 2017. Both schools' 2018 enrollment numbers are their lowest in a decade.
Like many other colleges and universities around the country, UND and NDSU have both been slow to adapt (NDSU more so than UND) to the changing educational landscape, including shifting to more online offerings, and adapting to employer workforce needs.
Meanwhile, BSC has been a leader in innovation with its National Energy Center of Excellence, the Bismarck Public Schools Career Academy, and most recently offering four-year degrees in cybersecurity and energy management.
BSC continues to move forward in spite of the fact it receives 30 percent less per student than the average received by other colleges in the North Dakota University System.
I find it particularly interesting that the schools that are failing advocate for a new multi-board governance structure, while those that are innovating and changing to market and consumer demands say that the current single-board system is preferable.
Let’s not take BSC for granted or just assume that its string of success will continue. Our community and region must rally around BSC (and Dickinson State and Minot State) as they face stiff headwinds from a governor and state Legislature dominated and incentivized to protect their investments along Interstate 29.
Gary Adkisson is publisher of the Bismarck Tribune.