Dec. 22—MOORHEAD — Five higher education institutions in the Fargo-Moorhead region have entered into an alliance that will allow students at their schools to take courses at the other institutions without having to undergo separate admissions processes.
The Metro College Alliance was announced via a press release on Friday, December 20, but was signed by the school presidents two days earlier during a ceremony in Moorhead.
The agreement involves North Dakota State College of Science, North Dakota State University, Concordia College, Minnesota State Community and Technical College (M State) and Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Metro College Alliance takes the place of the long-standing Tri-College University consortium,
whose school leaders announced at the end of 2023 that they would cease their activities at the end of 2024.
Tri-College allowed students to take courses at one of its partner campuses without paying additional fees or tuition.
The new agreement,
which came about as a result of an evolving higher education landscape is similar.
M State President Carrie Brimhall said no money is exchanged between the institutions when a student takes courses under the Metro College Alliance.
“There are no additional costs to students beyond the tuition fees they would have paid to take a course at their home institution,” Brimhall told The Forum.
As of January 1, 2025, the alliance is open to students seeking a degree from affiliated institutions and who wish to pursue bachelor’s degrees on another campus.
It ensures students have access to courses that may not be available on their home campus, especially in their final academic year or for specific program requirements, the news release said.
Typically, several hundred students are enrolled in Tri-College, Brimhall said previously, mostly in popular programs such as ROTC and American Sign Language.
Some students at other institutions choose to take American Sign Language at M State as a foreign language requirement, rather than learning Spanish or German, she previously said.
Tri-College University’s historic partnership dates back to 1970 and initially included NDSU, Concordia and MSUM.
In 2015, Tri-College expanded to include M State and NDSCS.
A major change at Metro College Alliance is the decentralization of exchange agreement services and administration.
The biggest cost savings will come from each of the five institutions no longer having to pay a fee to administer the Tri-College program, Brimhall previously said.
