July 11-12, 2002

ITEM 116-2802-R0702   Authorization to Offer Access to Canadians in Programs with Excess Capacity at a Rate of 150% of Resident Tuition; Montana State University-Northern

THAT: The Board of Regents of Higher Education authorizes Montana State University-Northern to offer access to Canadians in programs with excess capacity at a rate of 150% of resident tuition.

EXPLANATION: Two years ago a team of administrators from MSU-Northern visited with several Alberta Colleges (Olds, SAIT, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat). The presidents of those schools were very supportive of developing 2 plus 2 articulation agreements with Northern and were concerned with the barrier created by the cost for a Canadian student to attend Northern. At the current exchange rate, it would cost a Canadian student $16,132 CAN in tuition and fees to attend a year (two semesters) at Northern.

Before the rise in exchange and tuition prices Northern averaged 40 Canadian students annually. Northern is the closest US public university (6 hour drive) for over 1 million Canadians. The articulation agreements with Canadian schools and the reduced fee structure for Canadian students are both critical elements to the success of our Canadian recruiting efforts. This new Canadian tuition rate will be available to all Canadians and will not be limited to only students transferring to Northern under one of these articulation agreements.

Because Canadian students would only be enrolling in academic programs with excess capacity, additional instructional costs would be minimal. The additional tuition revenue generated would be adequate to offset any increased instructional and support costs associated with educating the additional students. The Nursing program is the only program on the Northern campus that does not have excess capacity. All other programs have room for additional students.