Noem's proposed budget includes free college for National Guard, but no tuition freeze
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Gov. Kristi Noem’s recommended budget does not include funding for the Board of Regents’ requested tuition freeze, which would prevent public college students’ tuition from increasing next school year, according to the board.
The board requested $8,592,579 in general funds for fiscal year 2024 (July 2023 to June 2024) to freeze rising tuition costs and save students money. The board outlined the freeze in budget priorities during its July meeting.
More:Tuition might not rise for the next two school years at South Dakota's public universities
One item the board hadn’t requested, but was included in Noem’s recommended budget, is 100% tuition coverage for National Guard members at a cost of $1.9 million.
The Regents waived an estimated total of $2.4 million in tuition for National Guard members combined over the summer and fall of 2021, and the spring of 2022, according to a board report.
Noem’s proposed $1.9 million will cover the nearly $1.3 million the system will need for a new tuition waiver for Guard members, and a $675,000 shortfall from the general fund to make up for the waiver in past years, Regents Vice President of Finance Heather Forney explained.
More:Here's what Gov. Kristi Noem is proposing in her proposed $7.2 billion budget
Other major budget items Noem recommended for the Board of Regents included the following:
$4 million for general fund maintenance and repair; the board requested more than $7 million
$3.6 million for the research budget, matching what the board requested
$5 million for a cybersecurity upgrade; the board requested more than $8 million
With rising construction costs across the university system, the Regents requested $29 million in one-time general funding for extra costs associated with various projects, but Noem’s recommended budget includes only $6.75 million combined in emergency special appropriations one-time funding for three BOR projects:
$2.75 million more for the South Dakota Mines Mineral Industries Building,
$3 million more for South Dakota State University’s bioproducts facility, and
$1 million more for SDSU’s dairy unit.
The BOR also requested more than $32 million in one-time general funds for deferred maintenance and repair projects across the system, but that was not included in Noem’s recommended budget.
More:Here's what Gov. Kristi Noem is proposing in her proposed $7.2 billion budget
All budget items will be reviewed, approved or denied, then finalized by the South Dakota Legislature in the upcoming legislative session.
Other legislative priorities for the board include a bill to sell 2.4 acres of land at Dakota State University that was purchased for the DSU events center but is no longer needed; a bill to demolish five agricultural structures at SDSU that were demolished in the May 12 storm and reconstruct four new structures; and a bill to change the name of the South Dakota School for the Deaf to the South Dakota Services for the Deaf.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Noem's budget includes free college for National Guard but no tuition freeze
