For many organizations, this legislative session brought feelings of insecurity and questions about the future as the state faced a major budget shortfall. The state’s colleges and universities now must implement mandates from lawmakers.
Nathan Lukkes is the executive director of the Board of Regents. He acknowledged it was a challenging session.
“All things considered, we fared about as well as we were going to and we appreciate the work of legislators to minimize the negative impact given the revenue picture and funding outlook everyone was dealing with," Lukkes said. "Long term, that remains a concern for ours as we try to find a way to fill that hole and make sure we can continue to maintain and preserve our facilities.”
The system did avoid the worst possible cut of more than $10 million. Lukkes said that’s because lawmakers were cooperative at the table.
“We appreciated the ability to have some candid conversations, to share our concerns and issues we’re dealing with, and to move forward in a way that advanced their interests," Lukkes said. "From a board standpoint, we really want to focus on continuing to provide a quality education and quality experience to our students.”
Cuts made to the board of regents do correspond with the end of the “tuition freeze” era which began in 2020.
“Freezing tuition indefinitely probably wasn’t realistic," Lukkes said. "They certainly appreciate the gain we’ve achieved over the last 5 years holding tuition and fees effectively flat. We hope that at 2.9 percent, while it’s an increase, (students) see it as a fairly modest or reasonable increase.”
However, that era proved effective for state colleges and universities. From 2020, regental institutions tallied a 7.5 percent increase in student headcount. Further, Lukkes said South Dakota colleges are now the most affordable in the region, jumping from fourth to first out of seven.
“Our campuses continue to work on scholarships, fundraising, and trying to find financial resources for students," Lukkes said. "When you look at our average debt-load, they’re doing a good job.”
Those tuition rate increases go into effect with the next school year.
The board must now implement a new law, SB100, which will allow for the concealed carry of firearms on college campuses.
“We’ve certainly been working with our campuses to think through all the things we need to be aware of and adjust," Lukkes said. "We’ve also been talking with other states and universities that have implemented similar measures in recent history, Kansas being one such example, to figure out lessons learned and best practices so we’re not recreating the wheel.”
SB 100 goes into effect statewide July 1.