Please note: Effective January 1, 2025, a new Metro College Alliance course exchange agreement will serve students in place of the Tri-College University consortium, which expires at the end of 2024. Students will continue to enjoy broadened educational opportunities through this partnership and the same seamless course enrollment process. The Metro College Alliance is designed to adapt to the evolving higher education landscape, ensuring that students continue to benefit from the collaborative spirit of the five colleges and universities that adhere to the agreement: Concordia College, Minnesota State University Moorhead, North Dakota State College of Science, North Dakota State University, and Minnesota State Community and Technical College.

The information below will be updated to the new Metro College Alliance information soon. Please check back.

Tri-College University (TCU) is a partnership of five institutions of higher education: North Dakota State University, Concordia College, Minnesota State University Moorhead, North Dakota State College of Science and Minnesota State Community and Technical College. Students at the five schools may benefit from what each school offers individually and cooperatively through the partnership.

Through the Tri-College course exchange, students enrolled at one campus may take courses at the other partner campuses at no extra cost and without going through separate admissions procedures. Tri-College expands discipline offerings and course availability for students beyond their home campus. Tuition is paid only to the home-base campus. Courses not eligible for Tri-College registration are those offered through NDSU’s Division of Distance and Continuing Education, off-campus or weekend courses offered through MSUM, most workshops, independent study courses at Concordia College and private music instruction at Concordia.

The following courses are not eligible for Tri-College registration at NDSCS:

Students enrolling in classes that require special fees (lab fees, lessons, supplies, etc.) beyond the home-campus fees assessed at the time of registration will be responsible for remittance or payment to the billing department or institution.

Course Limits

The course exchange is limited to two (2) courses per student per semester per participating campus. Students are required to take at least one course at their home campus when participating in the Course Exchange Program (excluding summer session). Exceptions to the two-course/semester limit among campuses are as follows:

• Students who have declared a Tri-College minor (one not offered by their home campus). The minor must be declared and on file with the home institution, and will be confirmed by the home campus at the point of registration. The host campus will confirm that the courses being requested are required for the minor;
• Students who request enrollment in either the AerospStudies/Air Force ROTC (AS) or Military Science/ArmROTC (MS) courses at NDSU (regardless of declaring the Aerospace Studies or Military Science minors);
• An exception is not required for a student that requests enrollment in a course/lab pairing (if the lecture and corresponding lab are considered two separate courses.);
• Other requests for exceptions may be reviewed on an individual basis (i.e., second degree at partner institution), but will be granted on a very limited basis only after consultation and agreement between registrars at the impacted campuses.
• Concordia does not participate in the course exchange during summer semester.