University of North Dakota

Public · Moderately Selective · ND

Photo: Zane0777 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationND · Midwest

SettingUrban

Undergrads9,981

Student:faculty17:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate39.1%

6-yr grad rate60.5%

Drop-out rate16%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$11k

Out-of-state tuition$16k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity21.9%

Gender diversity45.1%

International3.6%

Identity—

Overview

The University of North Dakota, in Grand Forks, is best known nationally for its aviation program and is one of the coldest-climate flagship-style universities in the country, with a hockey tradition that looms large in campus identity. It functions as the state's primary comprehensive research university, offering professional programs, including medicine and law, that are not duplicated elsewhere in the state university system.

Academics

The Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences is one of the premier collegiate aviation programs anywhere, covering commercial pilot training, air traffic control, and unmanned aircraft systems, with its own fleet and dedicated airport facilities that give students hands-on flight time most programs cannot match. Medicine, engineering, and energy studies are also well-regarded programs, benefiting from the state's energy industry ties and, for medicine, from a mission that emphasizes training physicians likely to practice in rural and underserved parts of the state.

Campus & student life

Hockey is a genuine cultural centerpiece, drawing enthusiastic crowds and shaping much of the campus social calendar, especially through the long winter months when outdoor activity options narrow. The cold climate and relatively remote location mean campus life is fairly self-contained, and students who thrive here tend to embrace, rather than merely tolerate, the long winters and small-city setting.

Getting in

Admissions at UND is less selective and less essay-driven than at large coastal flagships, with academic record as the main factor, though the aviation program has its own additional requirements given the cost and logistics of flight training. It draws students regionally from the Upper Midwest as well as a national pool specifically seeking the aviation program.

After graduation

Aviation graduates move into regional and major airlines, corporate flight departments, and air traffic control at a strong rate given the program's direct pipeline relationships with the industry. Medical school graduates, given the program's rural-practice mission, disproportionately go on to practice in North Dakota and similarly underserved areas. The alumni network is concentrated in the Upper Midwest and within the aviation industry nationally.

Worth knowing

The aviation program's flight training requirements mean many aviation students pursue additional certifications and flight hours beyond the standard degree, and prospective pilots should expect a program with real cost and logistics — flight hours are billed separately from tuition — beyond ordinary coursework. Winters are genuinely severe, a real lifestyle factor for students unfamiliar with the northern Plains climate.

und.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate76.9%

Enrolled mid-50%1180

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying