Our state’s universities and technical schools are integral to educating our young people, preparing our future workforce, and supporting economic development.  Higher education should be accountable for its performance, so that it fulfills its central mission – preparing our young people to be tomorrow’s workforce.  Our state institutions should partner with business and industry to meet current and future workforce needs and to assist graduates in finding careers in our state.

South Dakota also must take steps to ensure that higher education remains affordable for every family.  This means asking the universities and technical schools to restrain tuition increases and find new ways to increase efficiency.  The state also must continue to support the South Dakota Opportunities Scholarship, which encourages high school students to take college-preparatory courses and keeps our top students in the state, and we should explore the possibility of a state-funded need-based scholarship program.

Research

As governor, I will also continue the emphasis on expanding university research.  We have dramatically increased university research over the past eight years.  For every dollar the state has invested in new Research Centers of Excellence, we have gotten $2.84 in outside research funding.  Our state’s leadership has made the universities system an engine for innovation and economic growth.  South Dakota cannot afford to turn its back on that success, and as Governor I’ll make that a high priority.