North Dakota Colleges: Tuition, Debt & Earnings (2026 stats)

Analysis & insights

EDsmart Data aggregates institution-level College Scorecard data for this profile. Highlights below compare local medians to U.S. and regional benchmarks.

Costs & borrowing

North Dakota median public in-state tuition is $6,051, about +9.8% vs the national median. Versus the Plains region, tuition is -2.8%.

Median graduate debt is $18,442 (+37.3% above the U.S. median of $13,432, and +5.4% vs the Plains regional median of $17,500). Low sticker prices do not always mean low borrowing—living costs, time-to-degree, and aid mix matter.

Student debt rank: #40 nationally of 48 (lower debt = better rank); #5 in Plains of 7 (1 = lowest median debt).

On published in-state tuition, North Dakota ranks #30 nationally (1 = lowest median sticker among states with data).

Earnings, employment & retention

Among bachelor's-predominant campuses with ≥200 students, median 10-year earnings in North Dakota are $54,673, about +0.6% vs the U.S. campus median ($54,323).

The median campus reports 93.6% of its 8-year cohort as working and not enrolled—our closest federal proxy to a placement rate. The U.S. campus median is 87.9% (+5.7 pp). Formal job-placement statistics are not published in Scorecard; treat this as a comparative outcome indicator, not a hire guarantee.

First-year, full-time retention at the median campus is 74.6% vs a U.S. median of 76.3%—a leading indicator for completion and time-to-degree.

Loan repayment indicators at the median campus: 2-yr default 3.4% (U.S. 5.0%); 3-yr repayment progress 88.4% (U.S. 73.7%). 3-yr default is omitted when most campuses report suppressed zeros.

Nationally, North Dakota ranks earnings #23 and employment proxy #5 on these outcome medians (1 = best).

Top employment-outcome campuses in this extract include North Dakota State University-Main Campus (95.7%), University of North Dakota (94.9%), University of Mary (94.7%), University of Jamestown (94.5%), Valley City State University (92.8%), Mayville State University (92.5%), Dickinson State University (91.3%), Minot State University (90.0%)—useful anchors for local reporting on where graduates are most often working rather than still enrolled.

Completion & workforce context

Within North Dakota, sector medians diverge: Public median 10-yr earnings $52,242 (6 campuses). Public campuses often dominate enrollment while private nonprofits can show higher earnings medians at selective institutions.

Average institution-level completion rate across all sectors in North Dakota is 43.0% (national institution average about 50.3%).

National Student Clearinghouse data cite roughly 70,040 residents with some college but no credential in North Dakota (YoY change 2.50%). That stock of incomplete credentials sits alongside the completion and employment metrics above.