WICHE & North Dakota Celebrate 50 Years

Boulder, Colorado — The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) is celebrating 50 years as a force shaping higher education in the West. WICHE, along with North Dakota and 14 other member states, works collaboratively to expand educational access and excellence for the West’s citizens. WICHE is the only organization in the West that focuses exclusively on higher education issues, from accountability to tuition and fees to distance learning and innovation. Its primary issue – access – has been one of the region’s most pressing educational and social issues, from the days of the GI Bill down to the present.

North Dakota is an integral part of WICHE, which was created in 1952. Originally founded to broaden access to medical, dental, and veterinary schools for students in states that didn’t support such programs, WICHE currently enrolls more than 18,000 students in 13 professional degree programs, 134 graduate programs, and scores of undergraduate disciplines. Today, when our economy demands a highly educated workforce, WICHE actively supports the idea that every student should be prepared for college, and everyone should have access to a college education.

North Dakota's students and their families are the primary beneficiaries of WICHE’s three Student Exchange programs: the Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP), Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), and Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). They saved over $2.2 million in tuition and fees this year through WUE, which enables North Dakota’s students to enroll in institutions in other states and pay 150 percent of resident tuition. Over 550 of North Dakota’s undergraduate students, as well as a number of graduate students, are currently enrolled in out-of-state programs via WICHE. Through PSEP, 45 North Dakota professional students are studying out of state in 2002-03 in three fields: dentistry, veterinary medicine, and optometry; over 60 percent of these students return to the state to practice.

North Dakota has been an active participant in projects to support better-informed decision making at the state level. Teams of policymakers and educational leaders from North Dakota participate each year in WICHE’s regional policy forums and meetings, which are designed to assist in the creation of good public policy in the West.

More about WICHE

WICHE’s 15 member states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming – work collaboratively to promote innovation, cooperation, resource sharing, and sound public policy among states and institutions, strengthening higher education's contributions to the region's social, economic, and civic life. In addition to its Student Exchange, WICHE’s programs include WCET (Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), an international leader in helping states and institutions use new technologies to improve education; Policy Analysis and Research; Mental Health; and the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC), a rapidly expanding trilateral initiative. North Dakota also participates in another initiative, the Northwest Academic Forum, which addresses regional higher education issues and engages in cooperative resource sharing; a current effort, dubbed NEON (Northwest Educational Outreach Network), will broaden student access to higher education through an innovative interstate collaboration that taps the “anywhere, anytime” benefits of distance education.

Each state has three gubernatorially appointed commissioners, who help guide the work of the commission: Larry Isaak, chancellor of the North Dakota University System, Bismarck; Richard Kunkel, president, North Dakota Board of Higher Education, Devils Lake; and Sen. David Nething, Jamestown, currently serve North Dakota on the commission. In addition, WICHE's Legislative Advisory Committee works to strengthen state policymaking in higher education, engaging legislators in the discussion of higher ed issues and seeking their input on strategies for interstate collaboration. Sen. David Nething, Jamestown; Rep. Dave Monson, Osnabrock; and Rep. Mike Timm, Minot, represent North Dakota on this committee.

An anniversary luncheon to honor WICHE’s 50th anniversary and North Dakota’s participation in the commission will be held in Bismarck at the Doublewood Inn on October 21, 2003, concurrently with the annual meeting of the Roundtable on Higher Education.

10/16/2003

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