Colleges and universities throughout the state are addressing budget cuts and may need to cut approximately 490 full-time staff.

Budgets for the 2017-2019 school years have been submitted to members of the State Board of Higher Education's Budget and Finance Committee. They were submitted by the chief financial officer of the North Dakota University System, Tammy Dolan.

Budget cuts for this year will impact about 300 full-time positions from all of North Dakota's 11 colleges and universities. Based on guidelines for the 2017-2019 period, it is estimated more cuts will affect 190 additional full-time employees.

These budget cuts are said to save $31 million in ongoing expenses and $23 million in one-time savings. This all in hopes of minimizing the rate of growth in future higher education costs.

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