Chairman Sorvaugh said the Professional Student Exchange Program provision under Section 21 would be deleted from the conference draft. "So section 21, we're gonna remove," he said.

Why it matters: The Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP) helps North Dakota students attend professional graduate programs not offered in-state. The proposed language would have required participants who did not return to North Dakota to reimburse the state for the tuition difference. Committee members debated whether such a payback requirement is appropriate given varying career trajectories and the original intent to encourage North Dakota students to gain training that benefits the state.

House and Senate members discussed evidence and prior experience with PSEP return rates and the program’s original goals. Several speakers said the program historically focused on fields such as large-animal veterinary medicine, where private-market returns vary and return-to-state rates have been inconsistent. Senator Thomas and other members cautioned that life events and career opportunities make strict payback provisions difficult to enforce and potentially counterproductive.

Representative Sanford noted a tie between Section 21 and an application deadline provision in Section 52; committee members acknowledged that removing Section 21 would require deletion of the related Section 52 language as well. A committee member confirmed the plan: removing Section 21 would also remove Section 52, since the application date is directly tied to the PSEP language.

The committee voted informally by consensus to remove the payback language; no formal roll-call vote was recorded. Members said they will revisit related program details in future meetings if needed.

Looking ahead: Staff will revise the conference draft to remove Sections 21 and 52 and circulate the updated text to members before the next meeting.