A 23 percent funding shortfall was the focal point of Black Hills State University’s (BHSU) President, Dr. Laurie Nichols when she met with the South Dakota Board of Regents.
Nichols says, a national study, the Delaware Cost Study, compares universities across the US. The report shows BHSU is underfunded when compared to similar universities.
“When we you look across the other institutions, SDSU was short 12 percent, USD 13 percent, DSU was 9 percent, and Northern [State University] 8 percent. School of Mines was pretty flat,” says Dr. Nichols.
The 23% funding shortfall equals about $9 million. Nichols says this funding gap is not new to BHSU, saying the university has experienced similar budget pressure for decades. Dr. Nichols says there is a case to be had that students choose other institutions because they have resources BHSU doesn’t. Some of these resources, Dr. Nichols calls “critical programs.”