North Dakota Common Schools Trust Fund

United States · North America · Founded 1889 · Sub-national permanent fund · Not an IFSWF member

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Focus

North Dakota Common Schools Trust Fund: what it invests in

Real estateInfrastructure and utilitiesAgriculture and food securityFinancial services

Public equitiesFixed incomePrivate creditHedge funds and absolute returnReal estateInfrastructure

Geography Global

Scale

North Dakota Common Schools Trust Fund: how big it is, and on what basis

USD 8.87B

Total assets (balance sheet)As of 2026-07-09

In US dollars: about USD 8.87B. CSTF asset balance at 30 April 2026, unaudited, excluding land and minerals

Transparency

North Dakota Common Schools Trust Fund: what it publishes

6.0 of 10 Band 3 of 5

Published 5 · Partly 2 · Not published 3

Our 10 item score. It measures what is public, not how well a fund is run.

Assets, April 2026S4: USD 8.87B (unaudited); As of 2026-07-09
Payout 2025-27S1: USD 584.7M (USD 32.5M a month)
Payout ruleS1: 10% (of five-year average, per biennium)
Oil tax inflow FY2025S3: USD 100.4M; As of 2025-06-30
FoundedS1: 1889
Transparency scoreS4: 6.0 of 10; As of 2026-07-09

At a glance. The Common Schools Trust Fund (CSTF) is North Dakota's oldest and largest permanent trust, created at statehood in 1889 to fund public K-12 schools. It grows from oil and gas royalties, school land rents and a slice of the oil extraction tax, and pays out 10 percent of its five-year average value each biennium. Assets reached USD 8.87 billion at 30 April 2026. S1 S4

Key points

Assets of USD 8.87 billion at 30 April 2026 (unaudited), up about USD 1.3 billion in a year; USD 7.95 billion audited at 30 June 2025. S4 S3
Pays USD 584.7 million to schools over 2025-27, about USD 2,508 per student a year and roughly a quarter of state school funding. S1 S5
Distribution per biennium has risen from USD 77.2 million in 2009-11 as Bakken oil revenue grew the corpus. S1
Received USD 100.4 million of oil extraction tax in fiscal 2025, after USD 126.2 million in 2024. S3
Department-wide fund holdings at June 2025 included USD 2.77 billion of commingled equity, USD 1.26 billion each of hedge funds and private credit, and real estate, infrastructure and private equity. S3
A five-member board of statewide elected officials sets the allocation and approves every manager hire. S3 S5

Interesting facts

Its land grant dates from the 1889 Enabling Act that admitted North Dakota as a state. S1
Per-pupil payouts grew from about USD 400 a year in 2009-11 to over USD 2,500 in 2025-27. S1
The trust is expected to have sent more than USD 2 billion to public schools over ten years. S1

Mandate and goals

The CSTF holds school trust assets in perpetuity for public K-12 education. The Board invests them under the prudent investor rule, balancing long-term growth with the constitutional payout. S1 S3

Preserve the trust corpus for future generations of students. S1
Pay 10 percent of the five-year average asset value each biennium to the State Tuition Fund. S1
Invest prudently in a widely diversified portfolio. S3

How it invests

Industries	Real estate, Infrastructure and utilities, Agriculture and food security, Financial services. Sector agnostic S3
Asset classes	Public equities, Fixed income, Private credit, Hedge funds and absolute return, Real estate, Infrastructure, Private equity, Cash and money markets S3
Stages	Public markets, Credit, Real estate, Infrastructure, Buyout S3
Geography	Global. US and international mandates; international equity currency exposure is unhedged S3
Direct / through funds / co-invest	No / Yes / No S3
Ticket size	Commitments to individual managers are not itemised in public documents. S3
Deal sizes seen	Asset class sleeves of about USD 0.3B to 2.8B department wide (June 2025)
External managers	Large, mid and small cap, international and emerging equity, fixed income, private credit, real estate, hedge fund, private equity and infrastructure managers S3
Co-investment programme	No co-investment programme S3

Published criteria

Prudent investor rule under N.D.C.C. 15-03-04. S3
Board adopts an asset allocation schedule and approves each manager. S3

Past investments

Year	Investment	Type	Sector	Stage	Amount
2025	Commingled equity funds. Department-wide fair value, June 2025. S3	Fund commitment	Multi-sector	Public markets	USD 2.77B
2025	Private credit funds. Department-wide fair value, June 2025. S3	Fund commitment	Multi-sector	Credit	USD 1.26B
2025	Hedge funds. Department-wide fair value, June 2025. S3	Fund commitment	Multi-sector	Public markets	USD 1.26B
2025	Real estate funds. Department-wide fair value, June 2025. S3	Fund commitment	Real estate	Real estate	USD 0.72B
2025	Private infrastructure. Department-wide fair value, June 2025. S3	Fund commitment	Infrastructure and utilities	Infrastructure	USD 0.41B
2025	Private equity. Department-wide fair value, June 2025. S3	Fund commitment	Multi-sector	Buyout	USD 0.28B

Case studies

Oil wealth into classrooms S1

What: Royalties and oil tax from the Bakken boom swelled the trust, lifting school payouts.
When: 2009-11 to 2025-27
Size: USD 584.7M per biennium
Why: The 10 percent rule ties payouts to the trust's five-year average value.
Outcome: Payouts rose from USD 77.2 million to USD 584.7 million per biennium; about USD 2,508 per student a year.

Equity-led gains in 2025 S3

What: Department funds booked USD 813.6 million of fair value gains in fiscal 2025.
When: FY2025
Size: Not published
Why: A diversified portfolio with large public equity sleeves.
Outcome: Gains rose from USD 567.9 million in 2024, led by US and international equities.

Investment process

The Board of University and School Lands, five statewide elected officials, sets policy, adopts the asset allocation and approves all managers. The Department of Trust Lands and its CIO run the programme day to day. S3 S5

Committee	Role
Board of University and School Lands	Trustee: Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer and Superintendent S5

The Board adopts an asset allocation schedule for the permanent trusts. S3
Staff and consultants search for managers in each asset class; the Board approves hires. S3
Income is pooled and allocated to each trust by its share of the pool. S3
Distributions are set at 10 percent of the five-year average and paid monthly over the biennium. S1
Monthly packets and audited annual statements report results. S4 S3

How to approach: Manager searches are run by the Department of Trust Lands with its consultants; board packets are public. S6

Size and returns

Headline size: USD 8.87B (Total assets (balance sheet), as of 2026-07-09) S4
In US dollars: about USD 8.87B. CSTF asset balance at 30 April 2026, unaudited, excluding land and minerals
Audited balance, June 2025: USD 7.95B (Fund market value, as of 2025-06-30) S3
Balance, June 2024: USD 7.0B (Fund market value, as of 2026-04-30) S5
Balance, June 2023: USD 6.22B (Fund market value, as of 2026-04-30) S5
Returns: the fund does not publish a return figure.

Leadership

Name	Title
Kelly Armstrong	Governor; Chair of the Board of University and School Lands S5
Joseph Heringer	Commissioner, Department of Trust Lands S5
Frank Mihail	Chief Investment Officer S6
Drew Wrigley	Board member; Attorney General S5
Michael Howe	Board member; Secretary of State S5
Thomas Beadle	Board member; State Treasurer S5
Levi Bachmeier	Board member; Superintendent of Public Instruction S5

Governance and transparency

Legal basis: Enabling Act of 1889, Article IX of the North Dakota Constitution and N.D.C.C. Chapter 15-01.2 S1
Oversight: Board of University and School Lands; independent audit (Eide Bailly) S5 S3
Board meetings are public, with minutes and agenda packets posted. S5
Audited financial statements cover all funds managed by the Department. S3

Transparency score: 6.0 of 10 (band 3 of 5). Our own 10-item rubric; see the methodology page.

Published: total assets, audited financial statements, governance and mandate documents, named leadership, regular reporting schedule. S3 S4 S5
Partly published: asset allocation, holdings or deal list. S3
Not published: annual return, long-term returns, geographic or sector split. S3 S4

History

Date	Event
1889	Enabling Act grants school lands at statehood. S1
2009	2009-11 biennium pays USD 77.2 million. S1
2023-06-30	Balance of USD 6.22 billion. S5
2025-06-30	Audited balance of USD 7.95 billion. S3
2025-07	2025-27 distribution of USD 584.7 million begins. S1
2026-04-30	Assets reach USD 8.87 billion. S4

For family offices

The CSTF does not co-invest with private investors. For managers it is an allocator whose searches and hires are visible in public board packets. S4 S3

Managers are hired by Board vote after staff and consultant review. S3

Reports

Audited financial statements FY2025: https://www.land.nd.gov/sites/www/files/documents/Financial%20Services/AnnualStatements/Year%20Ended%20June%2030%2C%202025%20(Eide%20Bailly).pdf S3
Board agenda packet, July 2026: https://www.land.nd.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Board%20Agenda%20Packets/1%20-%2007%20-%20%20July%209%2C%202026%20Full%20Agenda%20Packet%20.pdf S4
Board minutes, April 2026: https://www.land.nd.gov/sites/default/files/documents/BoardMinutes/April%2030%2C%202026%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf S5

Common questions

How big is the CSTF?

USD 8.87 billion at 30 April 2026, unaudited; USD 7.95 billion audited at 30 June 2025. S4

Who runs it?

The Board of University and School Lands, chaired by Governor Kelly Armstrong, with the Department of Trust Lands. S5

What does it pay?

USD 584.7 million over the 2025-27 biennium to K-12 schools. S1

How is the payout set?

10 percent of the five-year average value of trust assets, excluding land and minerals. S1

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Sources

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