South Dakota ends college reciprocity with Minnesota

South Dakota high schools alerted this week of move meant to boost enrollment at Regental universities, timing draws criticism

The campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. (University of Minnesota)

South Dakota students planning to attend Minnesota public schools — and their parents — are facing financial uncertainty after the Board of Regents here quietly ended tuition reciprocity with their eastern-border neighbors late last year.

The Board of Regents (BOR) Academic and Student Affairs Office in Pierre this week alerted high schools that a long-standing shared tuition discount agreement with Minnesota for cross-border students attending their schools is over.

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“The reciprocity agreement between South Dakota and Minnesota was not renewed for the academic year 2024 – 2025,” BOR’s System Academic Program Manager Molly Weisgram wrote in an email sent to school guidance counselors Wednesday. “Our state has excellent higher education institutions and opportunities, and our goal as the public university system is to grow South Dakota's workforce.”

BOR made the move to end reciprocity in December, amid the backdrop of Minnesota’s aggressive tuition subsidization that’s made college free for tens of thousands of North Star State scholars. At the same time, the South Dakota Regents extended in-state tuition to Minnesota residents.