For over 120 years, NDSCS has provided responsive educational programs and experiences for thousands of students who, upon graduation, fulfill workforce demands. Today, we continue our mission as a comprehensive college encompassing liberal arts transfer programs, career and technical education, and workforce training.
2026 – First bachelor’s degree in the history of NDSCS to be offered in dental hygiene.
2025 – Record enrollment of 3,681 total students for the Fall 2025 semester. Completion of the new $20 million Bisek Hall addition and expansion of the Agriculture department. Opening of the $35 million Career Innovation Center in South Fargo. Aviation Maintenance program returns to NDSCS for the first time since the 1940’s with the help of an FAA grant as well as a North Dakota Workforce Innovation grant. Women’s softball wins another World Series. Rename the football field to ‘Minn-Kota Field’, install $1.5 million new artificial turf, and add women’s soccer to the list of competitive NJCAA athletic teams. The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) notifies NDSCS of “continued and reaffirmed accreditation” through 2034-2035.
2024 – NDSCS begins innovative new Fire Science program to help meet the needs of firefighters across the entire state of North Dakota. NDSCS adds Archery and Drone Racing as club competition teams for students.
2023 – Head coach Mike Oehlke and the NDSCS women’s softball team win the 2023 NJCAA DIII National World Series, the first national championship in the history of NDSCS.
2022 – The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education hires the 10th President, Rod Flanigan, Ph.D.
2021 – NDSCS breaks ground on the new Career Innovation Center in South Fargo. The CIC will help meet workforce demands for the state and provide robust educational opportunities and pathways for students.
2020 – NDSCS successfully navigates the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Commencement Ceremony is postponed to August and shifted outdoors. Men’s baseball returns to Athletics for the first time since 1963.
2019 – NDSCS adds Clay Target and Esports as club competition team options for students.
2018 – The William F. Rothwell Center for Science is dedicated and a $250,000 endowment is established to support NDSCS Science Curriculum.
2017 - NDSCS acquires nearly 95 acres of farmland north of Wahpeton from the Kosel and Patterson families. Owners Linda Patterson and her mother, Mary Kosel, works with the NDSCS Alumni/Foundation to arrange the land usage which will be used for a land lab. The college completes a
$13 million water, sewer infrastructure project.
2015 - $6.7 million renovation of Old Main is completed and old architectural elements are combined with new technology. Old Main was the original building on the NDSCS campus in Wahpeton.
2013 - $9 million renovation of both Forkner and Riley Halls is completed, as well as a $10.5 million Bisek Hall diesel expansion project is finalized. We also say goodbye to two historical buildings on campus - Hektner and Burch Halls.
2010 - In July, a $5.7 million renovation of Horton Hall is completed. The building, originally constructed in 1927 for $65,000, is LEED certified.
2009 - Wilbur A. Lunday, an NDSCS alumnus, and his wife Betty, both deceased, donate more than $1 million to the college. NDSCS launches the first Give Kids a Smile day and along with several area dentists, provide $11,000 in free dental services to 50 qualifying area children. NDSCS announces the journey worker track program that offers college credit for completed federally-approved apprenticeship training.
2008 - NDSCS and West Fargo Public Schools join together to offer the Early College Program (dual credit) - allowing 11th and 12th grade students to take college classes and earn credit toward an associate’s degree while in high school.
2007 - A $1.5 million renovation begins on the Earl “Skip” Bute Alumni Stadium and the Frank Vertin Field.
2005 - NDSCS expands its welding technology program to the Fargo location.
2002 - The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education officially recognizes NDSCS as a Centennial College.
1997 - NDSCS establishes the Skills and Technology Training Center as a regional workforce training center located in Fargo.
1987 - North Dakota State School of Science changes its name to North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) and converts from the quarter system to the semester system in 1992 as part of a North Dakota University System initiative.
1922 - The first trade and technical programs are offered, and since that time, NDSSS has become widely accepted as a hub for recruiting employees. NDSSS follows the basic principles of the Babcock Plan and the North Dakota Plan. The original plan of four interacting curriculum divisions was the result of a survey conducted in 1921 by Dean Earl J. Babcock of the School of Mines of the University of North Dakota. NDSSS is named the central trade and technical institution for the state of North Dakota. Under the North Dakota Plan, all trade-technical training in the state for many years was centralized in this institution - a method which proved very satisfactory in a state with sparse population and where agriculture continues to be the primary industry. NDSSS provides practical, hands-on education for thousands of students who, upon graduation, become available to meet business, professional and industrial needs.
1905 - The Arts and Science Division is the first division to be organized, and the Business Division begins operation shortly after.
1903 - NDSSS is provided for in the Constitution of the State of North Dakota and begins actual operation under the name State Scientific School, making it one of the oldest public two-year colleges in the United States.