Through its colleges, station and extension, NDSU provides instruction, research and public service. NDSU educates and serves the people of North Dakota, the region, the nation and the international community by discovering, communicating, applying and preserving intellectual, social and cultural development. It offers academic and professional programs which lead to degrees from the baccalaureate through the doctorate, and provides information systems necessary to accomplish its mission. NDSU assumes a coordinating role in the North Dakota University System for academic computing and economic development. In 1996 the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools reaffirmed the University's accreditation for the next ten years.
Most NDSU students come from North Dakota and Minnesota.
The 1980's and 1990's have seen decreasing state support for the entire University System. Dr. Plough, a good communicator with thoughtful vision and strategic initiatives, is a strong advocate for developing NDSU partnerships outside of the University with agriculture, business, and engineering. He views his role as shifting slowly in its balance from internal to external, as he is committed to enhance funding for the University and to give impetus to external partnerships. During his first two years in office, Dr. Plough has hired a number of new academic deans to fill existing vacancies. While acknowledging the likely internal candidacy, the president has affirmed to the Search Advisory Committee that Dr. Schnell must compete with a national pool of candidates.