Do you think it would be a good thing if ND closed a few of it's 11 public universities/colleges?

Question

A lot of ppl say with the small population, North Dakota has too many public univ. and colleges. If some were to be closed would help or hurt the state? What would the pros and cons be to closing such colleges?

Answer 1

The pros would be fewer fixed costs, less duplication of effort, and less difficulty monitoring the system. The cons would be that many people would lose their jobs, fewer students could commute to school, and the state would risk being seen as less interested in a positive thing like higher education. I am also assuming that if the population is small, some of the students now there come from out of state, and their tuition money would be lost.