Of the 6,875 first-year students enrolled in North Dakota colleges and universities in fall 2006, 58 percent (4,014 students) were North Dakota residents. This means that 42 percent (2,861 students) came from out of state. That gave North Dakota the seventh largest proportion of out-of-state, first-year students among all states.

This month’s “Economic Brief,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on the residence and migration of first-year college students (high school graduates enrolled in college within one year of high school graduation) provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.

The number of high school graduates in North Dakota has declined during the past few decades. The number went from 10,850 in 1970 to 7,562 in 2008. In addition, since 1998, a larger proportion of North Dakota high school graduates who attend college within one year of graduation are leaving the state for college.

In fall 1998, 16 percent of North Dakota resident first-year students left the state to attend college. By 2006, this proportion grew to 27 percent. Of the 5,504 North Dakota resident first-year students in the fall of 2006, 73 percent (4,014 students) were enrolled in North Dakota colleges or universities. Nationally, 81 percent of first-year students attended college in their home state. The remaining 27 percent (1,490 students) of state resident first-year students left North Dakota to attend college.

When taking into account the 2,861 students entering North Dakota to attend college, the result is a net in-migration of 1,371 first-year students. This net in-migration indicates that North Dakota brought in 25 percent more first-year students to its colleges and universities than it could have generated from North Dakota resident first-year students. Only five other states in the nation exceeded that number in 2006.

“These impressive proportions demonstrate the value people see in our institutions of higher education in North Dakota and also explain how our university system can continue to grow despite a persistent downward trend in high school graduates,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director.

NDSU Agriculture Communication