Graduate Tuition

Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) States/Territories: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, American Samoa, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Select online graduate programs have approval from the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education to be billed following an alternative tuition structure, regardless of a student’s individual residency. Each of these programs are administered strictly via an online delivery method. In instances where the student has declared this unique major prior to the start of the semester and is enrolled in only online classes, the North Dakota resident tuition rate may be charged. NDSU’s thirteen credit tuition cap does not apply. Student program changes, including online program eligibility, are facilitated and monitored by the Graduate School. A complete list of current online programs may be found here: Online and Distance Master's Programs and Graduate Certificates.

Internships through NDSU’s Career and Advising Center are charged at the per-credit tuition rate for North Dakota residents and the typical 13-credit tuition cap does not apply. See “ND Residents” section above for the current rates. Differential tuition and mandatory student fees do apply to internship credits.
 

2024-2025

• 1-12 Credits: $543.28 per credit (tuition + student fees)
• 13+ Credits: $610.00 per credit (tuition + student fees)

• Mandatory Student Fees 
   

Course fees are additional fees assessed to all section for a particular course.
Class fees are additional fees assessed to a specific section(s) of a course.

• Course and Class Fee Lists

Differential Tuition
Select majors, typically based on the assigned College, are charged a higher tuition rate referred to as “differential tuition”. Students not assigned differential tuition are charged the base tuition rate. The assignment of the differential tuition rate is based on the student’s declared major—it is not based on individual class selection.

1. Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Nursing, or Pharmacy differential tuition is assessed on all credits of students admitted to programs overseen by each of the respective Colleges.
2. Engineering differential tuition is assessed on all credits of students admitted to an academic program overseen by the College of Engineering. Examples of engineering majors include: pre-Engineering (including those with undecided majors/concentrations), Agriculture & Bio Systems, Civil, Construction Engineering/Management, Electrical, Environmental, Industrial, Mechanical and Manufacturing, and Computer Science.
3. Business differential tuition is assessed on all credits of students admitted to an academic program overseen by the College of Business. Examples of business majors include: Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing, Global Business, and Supply Chain Management. Students that were admitted to the program as a pre-major will be automatically enrolled in to the professional major when the admission requirements (e.g., 2.5 cumulative GPA, completed/enrolled in five core courses) are met. Students requesting not to be admitted must opt out by the deadline established by the College of Business.
4. Athletic Training differential tuition is assessed on all credits of students admitted to the Master of Athletic Training (MATrg) program.
5. Students with majors outside the College of Business, who have declared a minor or certificate within the College of Business, will be charged tuition in accordance with their declared major. However, students will be charged additionally for credits provided by the College of Business if they have a declared minor in Accounting, Banking, Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Fraud Investigation, Logistics or Management Information Systems; or a Certificate in Entrepreneurship, Finance, Banking, or Professional Selling.

The differential tuition rate replaces the base rate and starts at the point in time that the student is accepted in to the program. Engineering students, for example, are accepted in to their programs as Freshmen. Students who have declared multiple majors are billed at a single tuition rate corresponding with the highest programmatic rate of the student. If a student should elect to leave a major with differential tuition, the major change form must be submitted and processed prior to the week four census date. Changes completed after the four-week census will not be effective until the following term.

Residency and Reciprocity
A primary component of a student’s tuition charges is their assigned residency. Some students may receive a discounted rate as the result of a tuition agreement between higher education institutions and systems.

*All Minnesota rates are per the ND-MN Reciprocity Agreement. Minnesota residents who have not been approved by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (MNOHE) to receive the lower reciprocity rate will be charged the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) tuition rate. The Pharmacy program is excluded from this reciprocity agreement and students from MN will be charged the MSEP rate unless previously approved by MNOHE to receive the MN rate as an undergraduate.

• MSEP States: Any Minnesota resident that has not applied for Tuition Reciprocity or students from states participating in the Midwest Student Exchange Program.
• Contiguous Provinces/States: Residents of contiguous (i.e., border) states and provinces are granted a discounted tuition rate as depicted above.
  • Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Montana, and South Dakota
• Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP) States/Territories: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, American Samoa, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Children and spouses of North Dakota college and university graduates may be eligible for reduced tuition while attending NDSU as an undergraduate through the Alumni Tuition Incentive Program. Eligibility must be noted at time of application and graduate students are not eligible.

Internships
The internship rate depicted above pertains to field experiences, cooperative education programs and internships facilitated by NDSU’s Career Center. It does not apply to independent programs or those facilitated by academic departments.

Tuition Cap
With the exception of Architecture, graduate tuition is charged on a per-credit basis. For Architecture students, tuition is capped at thirteen credits per semester. This tuition cap refers to NDSU tuition charges only. Full-time status, scholarship eligibility, and financial aid may have alternative credit requirements.

Credits Outside of Declared Major
Tuition is billed based on the student’s declared major. This assigned tuition rate applies to all credits, regardless of the subject matter. No discount is provided for differential tuition on classes not administered by the student’s assigned College.

Multiple Majors
Students with multiple declared majors in the same billing career (e.g., undergraduate) will be billed at a single tuition rate. This tuition rate will be charged on all credits; tuition is not charged by class. If one of the declared majors is within a college approved to charge differential tuition, the differential rate will be charged. In instances where both declared majors are within colleges assigned differential tuition, the greater of the two will be charged.

Multiple Careers
Students enrolled in multiple careers (e.g., both undergraduate and graduate) may be billed separately for each and the tuition cap does not apply across careers. Mandatory student fees do cap across careers. Exception: Architecture students in multiple careers will have their tuition capped at the graduate tuition rate.

Tuition Waivers
Tuition waivers may only be applied to tuition charges and may not be utilized to pay housing and/or miscellaneous charges. In instances where the tuition waiver awarded is greater than the tuition charges, the overage may not be refunded to the student.

Collaborative and Tri-College
The above rates do not reflect the tuition rates of schools hosting NDSU students via the NDUS collaborative or Tri-College University registration. NDUS collaborative students are charged additionally for tuition/fees at the provider school and the credits are not included in the tuition cap. Tri-College students are billed for the credits by NDSU but will pay separately at the provider school for differential tuition, course fees, and any other items beyond base tuition.

Audit Rate
The audit rate is 50% of the base tuition rate, corresponding to the student’s individual residency. Students cannot select the audit option while registering for classes. Instead, a permit is required and enrollment is completed by the Office of Registration & Records.

Dedicated Online Programs
Students in select programs that are offered and available in a fully online format, may be billed at the ND resident tuition rate.

At time of application, students will indicate their intent to participate in a dedicated online program. By making this designation, students will be prohibited from enrolling in face-to-face, on-campus classes. Current students that wish to move to a dedicated online program must work with their academic advisor to submit a major change form. Frequent moves between the online major and it’s face-to-face counterpart are not permitted.

For students with multiple majors, with one being online and the other being in a traditional face-to-face format, the student’s online major will be changed to its face-to-face counterpart and the student will be charged tuition at their assigned residency rate (e.g., ND, MN, contiguous, non-resident, international). This protocol applies to certificates as well.  

For business minors paired with non-business online majors, the business minor will be changed to the online version to align with the non-business major.

Students in dedicated online programs are allowed to take hybrid blended, face-to-face off campus and independent study courses.
 

Students awarded a Graduate Assistantship and corresponding tuition waiver will be billed at a unique tuition rate, which matches the North Dakota resident rate (see above). Eligibility for this unique rate applies whether the student is receiving a full or partial tuition waiver.

Note: Continuing Enrollment credits are billed at a flat rate of $150 per credit and no mandatory student fees are charged. This option is intended for graduate students who have completed all necessary credits of course work including thesis (798) and dissertation (899) on their approved Plan of Study, but who have not yet completed and submitted their thesis or dissertation. This fee is not eligible for any waivers.