NDSU vs. UND
Replacing UND’s head football coach Dale Lennon and NDSU’s head coach Craig Bohl is Alice Hoffert and Craig Schnell in the enrollment and student affairs departments.
Since the schools no longer have an outlet in the athletic arena for competition, the rivalry must now be fought in numbers.
Compared to UND, NDSU’s enrollment is decreasing. NDSU has 11,555 students for spring semester, according to a press release. UND has 12,034 students for the spring, according to UND’s institutional research report.
NDSU’s fall 2006 enrollment was 12,258, and UND’s fall 2006 enrollment was 12,834, according to the respective school’s Web sites.
The reason for the decrease for the spring semester is both schools had the largest graduating class in history, both Alice Hoffert, associate vice president of enrollment management for UND, and Craig Schnell, provost and vice president of academic affairs for NDSU, said.
Students and representatives of both schools have reasons why they think their school is better and why they chose their respective school.
Schnell said students choose NDSU because of the academic programs and ability to find work here in Fargo.
“We like to think of ourselves as the ‘University of Choice,’” he said.
Hoffert said a survey done on students indicated the number one reason students choose UND is the academic reputation of the institution and the national aerospace program.
“I am here for pre-vet and animal science, and UND is not an AG college,” Austin Domek, a sophomore majoring in animal science, said.
Nathan Shulstad, a freshman majoring in architecture, agreed with Domek and said UND wasn’t an option because of the programs.
Sarah Gustin, a junior majoring in public relations and ag communication,said, “Oh, that is easy, NDSU is family tradition.”
Another aspect to determine which school ranks superior is to look at entrance requirements.
Jobey Lichtblau, Office of Admission director, said admission decisions are based on a student’s overall high school academic record as well as ACT or SAT score.
A student needs to complete four years of English, three years of mathematics at Algebra I and above, three years of laboratory science and three years of social science.
The criteria also requires the student have a minimum cumulative high school grade point average of 2.5 and an ACT composite score of 21 or higher to get into college in North Dakota, said Lichtblau.
Hoffert said the same guidelines are used to get into UND.