Tuition Waivers

Presidential, Presidential Honor, Provost, and Bison Merit Awards may be granted to first-year students meeting minimum ACT/SAT and/or GPA requirements.

International Student Awards may be granted to first-year students meeting minimum admission proficiency scores.

Eligibility is determined by the Office of Admission and/or International Student and Study Abroad Services.

Applications and Additional Information

The Graduate Assistant Waiver covers base tuition charges. Differential tuition is not included. In addition to receiving a waiver, graduate assistants may receive a stipend to perform research, teaching, and service activities.

Graduate Assistants are typically required to enroll in a minimum of six credits and there is a limit on the total number of credits that may be waived.

Students working at least twenty or more hours per week usually receive a 100% waiver of base tuition. Students working less than twenty hours may receive a lesser amount. Eligibility is determined by the Grad School.

Students must be admitted to the Graduate School as a degree-seeking student. Non-degree students are not eligible. Students are responsible for any differential tuition, student fees, and tuition for other types of credits taken, such as undergraduate credits or Cooperative Education credits.

The Graduate Assistant Waiver does not cover audit courses as they aren't part of a student's Plan of Study (course work).

Students should refer to the GA policy for their college of record.

Students and/or parents seeking this waiver will need to complete the form, located on Human Resources/Payroll's website (located under Benefits > Tuition Waiver for Faculty/Staff or Tuition Waiver for Employee Spouse/Dependents). NDSU policies 133 and 133.1 require that tuition waiver forms be completed and submitted to Human Resources prior to each semester for which you are taking classes. Please refer to the policies for appropriate deadlines. For more information, please contact Human Resources/Payroll.

Awarded to graduate students not on an assistantship. Waivers in this category are provided to external award recipients such as Fulbright (100% waiver) and World Learning scholars (30% waiver). Included in this category are waivers that result directly from Memorandums of Understanding between NDSU and specific affiliated international universities or institutions. Eligibility is determined by the Graduate School.

Select departments may choose to offer a waiver of base tuition and/or differential tuition. Eligibility is determined by the respective department.

Awarded to high-achieving transfer students transferring to NDSU to complete their first bachelor’s degree. Minimum GPA at previous institutions required. Eligibility is determined by the Office of Admission.

For members of Phi Theta Kappa.

Available to full-time North Dakota law enforcement officers with at least two years of service that are maintaining satisfactory job performance. Must complete the appropriate application supplied by the ND Attorney General and receive supervisor approval at least one month in advance of the start of the semester. The waiver provides a 25% reduction in tuition and student fees to undergraduate students and is available for a maximum of five years after initial award.

ND Century Code §§ 37-07.1 and SBHE Policy 820 authorize a thirty-five percent tuition waiver on undergraduate tuition for qualified members of the National Guard, subject to limitations stated in that chapter and National Guard rules. Eligibility is determined by the North Dakota National Education Center in Bismarck, ND.

ND Century Code §§ 15-10-18.2 and 15-10-18.3 and SBHE Policy 820 authorize tuition and fees be waived in North Dakota institutions of higher education for a dependent/spouse/widow/widower of a resident veteran who was killed in action, died of service-related causes, has a one hundred percent service-connected disability as determined by the department of veterans' affairs, was a prisoner of war or declared missing in action. Educational benefits are allowed for a bachelor's degree or certificate of completion. Eligibility is determined by NDSU's Certifying Official.

​Veteran Dependent Tuition Waiver Application​

SBHE Policy 805.3 authorizes the tuition to be waived for on-campus courses audited by persons 65 years of age or older. Eligibility is reviewed by the Office of Registration and Records.

SBHE Policy 820 authorize tuition and fees be waived for the appointed student member of the State Board of Higher Education. Eligibility is reviewed by Customer Account Services.