PIERRE - A $15.4 million plan to consolidate university classes now offered at seven locations in Rapid City was embraced Thursday by the House Education Committee.

The panel endorsed a bill that would allow the Board of Regents to accept the donation of 12 acres near Interstate 90 on the eastern side of Rapid City and construct a building for courses primarily taken by nontraditional students.

HB1251, offered by Rep. David Lust, R-Rapid City, was ushered unanimously to the Appropriations Committee for further review.

Lust said the bill would allow bonds of $15.4 million to be issued for the project. State funds would pay off $13 million of the bonds, and student fees would finance the remaining $2.4 million, he said.

About 1,600 students take West River Higher Education Center classes, Lust said. The courses and degrees are offered by Black Hills State University, South Dakota State University, the University of South Dakota, Dakota State University and Northern State University.

Regent Randy Morris of Spearfish said the plan also includes an option to buy an adjoining 19 acres that could be used to construct a second building if enrollments continue to increase.

"We want an option so that we're not immediately landlocked," Morris said.

Classes that are offered through the center do not typically attract the 18- through 23-year-old students that are the mainstay of the six state university campuses, Tad Perry, executive director of the regents, said.

"I don't think as a practical matter we're growing away from the residential campuses - the population that take advantage or the residential campuses - whatsoever," he said.

Perry said nontraditional students account for 6 percent of public university enrollment in South Dakota, and that number is as high as 10 percent in some states.

Randy Weiss, who takes BHSU classes in Rapid City, said a centralized complex is needed. He said many of the students juggle full-time jobs and take a variety of classes. It would be more convenient if all those offerings were in one building, he said.