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Tag: University of North Dakota

  • UND enrollment hits 15,440, breaking record on first day of classes

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    Aug. 29—GRAND FORKS — The University of North Dakota’s first-day enrollment number for fall 2025 shows the university has already surpassed its all-time high for enrolled students.

    On Monday, Aug. 25, UND counted 15,440 enrolled students. David Dodds, communications director, said that number is expected to grow before the university announces its official fall enrollment count in September.

    “Already that’s the highest number of students we’ve ever had enrolled in the history of UND,” he said. “We’ve already blown past (the record) on the first day and we’re going to continue to grow over the next few weeks.”

    The highest enrollment number at UND was in fall 2012, when 15,250 students were counted. To be past that on the first day of classes is a testament to student retention, Dodds said. Each year there has been an increase between first class day numbers and the official headcount for the fall semester, he said, and he anticipates the same to happen this year. For example, about 300 students enrolled between fall 2024’s first class day and final enrollment count.

    The fall 2025 first-day count increased by 4.86%, compared to last year’s 14,724. The number of freshmen increased by 14.09%, which Dodds said is also a good sign. An official enrollment count will be released after the third week of September, when all North Dakota University System schools release official census counts.

    UND Vice President for Student Affairs Art Malloy predicted in a

    past conversation

    with the Grand Forks Herald that this fall could bring a record-breaking number of students.

    “We could very easily have the largest class at UND ever in the fall,” he said in December 2024.

    Dodds said the university’s admissions team had tracked about 15,366 students a few days before the count. An increase in North Dakota and Minnesota freshmen was also found, as well as 30% of the freshman class being in the Presidential Scholars Program. That is an increase of 7% from last year’s 23%. There has also been a more than 30% increase in military affiliated students in the freshman class. Though the numbers were based on what was being tracked and not the official count, Dodds said they still have merit.

    “I think those numbers are pretty good,” he said.

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  • ‘All learning is good learning:’ UND president says Career Impact Academy does not compete with university

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    Aug. 24—GRAND FORKS — University of North Dakota President Andrew Armacost said he doesn’t view the soon-to-open Career Impact Academy as competition to taking in prospective students. Rather, he views it as part of the whole ecosystem of ways to learn.

    Alternate learning opportunities for people young and old should be celebrated, he said.

    “My stance is that all learning is good learning,” Armacost said. “It’s a great thing for the city of Grand Forks. It’s a great thing for the state of North Dakota. It’s not a competitor to us. It’s a great supplementer of great citizenry that we create together.”

    UND is working with other institutions of higher learning as a collaborator, instead of as competition to pull together on workforce development in the state, he said. It is also one of the institutions that will be working with the

    Career Impact Academy

    , which is planned to open Aug. 28. The academy serves high school and college students, as well as adults, providing training in multiple career-oriented program areas.

    During a ribbon-cutting event for the facility, Wayde Sick, director and executive officer of the North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education, said the CIA will provide access to more diverse career programming and play a role in a “larger strategy” to meet state workforce needs.

    Armacost said UND is also constantly asking what employers need from four-year graduates and how it can modify curriculum to give them what they need. As interim committee discussions for higher education begin, there is a focus on what workforce development looks like for two-year schools, four-year schools and the North Dakota University System as a whole.

    As a trend toward alternate education and shorter technical degrees grows, UND has also made arrangements with two-year schools to build on students’ learning instead of trying to focus on something the state’s “junior schools” are already good at, he said. UND has “two plus two” programs in place, where a student completes a two-year technical program or liberal arts program and uses it as a basis for a four-year degree. UND will provide a well-rounded four-year education, he said, fostering critical thinking, communication and teamwork.

    “UND is a proud contributor to that world, to make sure that our engineers are well-rounded engineers who understand the humanities, social sciences and liberal arts,” Armacost said. “And that our humanists, our liberal arts graduates, are also well-versed in other areas that will make them great contributors.”

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  • Higher education board chair favors keeping interim leader of North Dakota colleges

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    Tim Mihalick, right, chairs a North Dakota State Board of Higher Education meeting in Bismarck on May 29, 2025. Next to Mihalick is interim chancellor Brent Sanford. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

    The chair of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education said Thursday that he will propose giving interim Chancellor Brent Sanford  the job on a long-term basis. 

    Sanford, a former lieutenant governor, was named the interim leader of the North Dakota University System in April. Sanford replaced Mark Hagerott, who left the position at the end of  April.  

    Black, who was named board chair in May, spoke to the Legislature’s Higher Education Institutions Committee that was meeting in Dickinson. Black said he favored skipping a nationwide search in favor of giving Sanford the job. 

    D.J. Campbell, left, was named vice chair of the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education and Kevin Black was named chair at a board meeting in Bismarck on May 29, 2025. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

    Black said a search would likely cost more than $100,000 and still lead the board back to Sanford. 

    He praised Sanford’s work as interim chancellor and said a search “is going to lead us right back to the person we think we know would be the best for the job.”

    The eight-member board would have to approve the proposal. 

    Sanford is former mayor of Watford City and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota. He had been interim president of Bismarck State College before being named interim chancellor. Before that, he had been working for the BSC Office of Workforce and Economic Development. 

    Sanford, a Republican, served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Doug Burgum for six years before resigning in January 2023. 

    Black noted that the board is evaluating what the leadership position should be called. It has been called chancellor, but some states use commissioner and the state constitution refers to a commissioner and chief executive officer. 

    “The commissioner, chancellor, whatever title you want to use, is not an academic post,” Black said. “It is very much an executive leadership post.” 

    Hagerott, who had led the university system since 2015, had a doctorate degree. Other recent chancellors have had a master’s degree or other advanced degree.

    Sen. Jonathan Sickler, R-Grand Forks, chair of the committee, said that one of the advantages of a search process is that it forces the board to undergo a kind of strategic planning process as it evaluates what they are looking for in a candidate. 

    Black said the board would still plan to do an evaluation of the roles of responsibilities of University System leadership, including the board. 

    “Brent understands that and he is fully on board with that process,” Black said. 

    The State Board of Higher Education will meet Sept. 23 at Minot State University. 

    Sanford did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Thursday.

    North Dakota Monitor Deputy Editor Jeff Beach can be reached at jbeach@northdakotamonitor.com

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