North Dakota Higher Education Outcome Report

• Institutions

  19

  35,563 students enrolled

• Graduates / Year

  ~5,021

  Estimated annual completers

• Median Earnings

  52nd pct

  $50,008

  24th of 50 states

• Mobility Score

  87th pct

  2.4%

  6th of 46 states

• Talent Retention

  22nd pct

  70%

  First-year retention rate

• Value Ratio

  92nd pct

  4.3x

  Earnings per net-price dollar

1. 1

   Upward mobility is a defining strength: the state's institutions move bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 2.4% rate, in the 87th percentile nationally.

2. 2

   Degree production is led by Business and Healthcare, which together account for 38% of graduates. That diversified mix sets what the state's labor pipeline can supply.

3. 3

   Engineering is the standout sector: graduates earn $62,878, +21.9% versus the national median. That premium points to a real wage advantage rather than sheer volume.

4. 4

   Trades shows oversupply pressure: graduate earnings run 21.6% below the national median, suggesting the field produces more graduates than the local market rewards.

5. 5

   On value, North Dakota returns 4.3x earnings per dollar of net price, among the strongest cost-to-outcome efficiency in the country.

6. 6

   The state's strongest mobility engine is Dickinson State University, which moves bottom-quintile students into the top quintile at a 4.1% rate, the highest in North Dakota.

• Earnings vs National

  ▼ -2.6%

  Median graduate earnings in North Dakota are below the national average by 3%.

• Cost vs National

  ▲ -30.1%

  Net price in North Dakota is lower than the national average by 30%.

• Mobility Rate

  ▲ +0.65pp

  Upward mobility rate is 0.6 percentage points above the national average.

• Completion Rate

  ▼ -5.4pp

  North Dakota's graduation rate is 5.4 percentage points below the national average.

• Best Value

  ▲ 9.4x

  Top value school: Turtle Mountain College ($32,079 earnings vs $3,428 net price).

• Low-Income Access

  ▼ 10.2%

  10% of students come from bottom-quintile households, a measure of how open the state's colleges are to low-income students.

Business (21% of graduates) and Healthcare (18% of graduates) dominate North Dakota's higher education output. Graduates in the top field earn a weighted average of $46,977.

• Business

  21%

  $46,977 avg

• Healthcare

  18%

  $47,016 avg

• Trades

  11%

  $41,676 avg

• Humanities

  10%

  $44,286 avg

• Education

  8%

  $47,267 avg

North Dakota's highest-ROI degree cluster is Law (Legal Studies), where graduates average $26,890 against a net cost of $4,087, a 6.6x return. That's -47.9% vs the national median.

• Legal Studies

  6.6x
  $26,890 earnings · $4,087 net -47.9% vs natl

• Mechanic & Repair Tech

  5.0x
  $44,720 earnings · $8,922 net -13.3% vs natl

• Precision Production

  4.9x
  $44,964 earnings · $9,183 net -12.8% vs natl

• Construction Trades

  4.6x
  $37,572 earnings · $8,161 net -27.2% vs natl

• Transportation

  4.2x
  $41,870 earnings · $10,033 net -18.8% vs natl

• Computer Science & IT

  4.2x
  $49,358 earnings · $11,840 net -4.3% vs natl

Three lenses on North Dakota's talent pipeline: which fields produce the most graduates, which command the highest earnings, and where high-pay demand outruns local supply.

North Dakota's colleges post an average mobility rate of 2.4%, which puts the state in the 87th percentile nationally. 10% of students arrive from bottom-quintile households. Cross-class social connectedness averages 1.58, a proxy for the networks that help graduates convert a degree into mobility.

North Dakota's Engineering programs produce graduates earning $62,878, +21.9% relative to the national median. Trades graduates, however, earn 21.6% below the national median, a possible sign the state produces more of these degrees than its labor market absorbs.

• Business

  21% of enrollment
  $46,564 -9.7% vs natl

  18 schools

• Healthcare

  18% of enrollment
  $50,003 -3% vs natl

  15 schools

• Trades

  11% of enrollment
  $40,450 -21.6% vs natl

  7 schools

• Humanities

  10% of enrollment
  $40,530 -21.4% vs natl

  12 schools

• Education

  8% of enrollment
  $42,695 -17.2% vs natl

  10 schools

• Engineering

  8% of enrollment
  $62,878 +21.9% vs natl

  2 schools

North Dakota's higher education system includes 1 research-oriented, 1 specialized, 4 access-oriented, 13 regional institutions. Each group plays a different role in the state's outcomes.

• 🔬

  1

  Research Universities

• 🏛️

  13

  Regional Universities

• 🚀

  4

  Access-Oriented Institutions

• 🎯

  1

  Specialized Institutions

72% of North Dakota's colleges charge under $15K net. Graduates of those schools average $42,725 at 10 years.

• NET PRICE UNDER $15K

  13

  72% of schools

  Avg earnings: $42,725

• NET PRICE $15K–$25K

  5

  28% of schools

  Avg earnings: $55,778

Schools ranked by median graduate earnings 10 years after enrolling.

1. 01 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND $63,552
2. 02 North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND $62,203
3. 03 University of Mary Bismarck, ND $60,909
4. 04 University of Jamestown Jamestown, ND $56,621
5. 05 Bismarck State College Bismarck, ND $54,277
6. 06 Valley City State University Valley City, ND $52,725
7. 07 Minot State University Minot, ND $51,759
8. 08 Dickinson State University Dickinson, ND $50,720

What graduates in North Dakota earn relative to what they pay for college.

Every figure on this page is derived from public federal data and read within its regional and economic context. Information Gain Policy →