North Dakota assistance programs

North Dakota runs more of this help centrally than most states. One department, North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS), decides TANF cash assistance, LIHEAP heating help and Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) subsidies, all from one statewide Customer Support Center, one online portal and the human service zone offices that replaced the old county social service offices. One agency, the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency (NDHFA), runs nearly all homebuyer help. Business help is unusual too: the state put its whole $58.6 million SSBCI allocation into equity, and startup loans are backed by the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.

For families, the Self-Service Portal takes online applications for TANF, LIHEAP and CCAP, and the Customer Support Center (1-866-614-6005) takes questions, documents and mailed applications for all three. TANF pays the full standard of need, $962 a month for a parent and two children, but the parent must contact the JOBS work program within seven business days of referral before the case is approved. LIHEAP takes applications year-round and pays 45% to 100% of each heating bill for 12 months; weatherization is separate, run by the Department of Commerce through eight Community Action Agencies. CCAP has had a waitlist for most new families since December 1, 2025, and the state funds no free pre-K: ND Best in Class charges sliding-scale tuition. The North Dakota child care guide explains who skips the waitlist.

Homebuyers apply through one of NDHFA's participating lenders, not with the agency. Its DCA and Start add-ons each pay 3% of the first mortgage as a no-payment second lien, satisfied after 96 monthly payments, and there is no grant you never repay. Fargo sends buyers to NDHFA, and the main local option is the Grand Forks Community Land Trust's CHAP, which has a waitlist. Businesses should expect loans and equity rather than grants: Innovate ND is closed for the 2025-27 biennium, and the real grants are narrow, such as APUC for value-added agriculture, STEP ND for export costs and the Technical Skills Training Grant for employers. The North Dakota small business guide sorts each program by what it pays.

College aid comes from the North Dakota University System (NDUS) Financial Aid Office in Bismarck. The FAFSA is the only application for the North Dakota State Grant (up to $1,375 a semester in 2026-27) and the Supplemental State Grant, and the state has no alternative application for students who cannot file it. The $6,000 North Dakota Scholarship also pays at career schools and registered apprenticeships. Adults who need job training ask for a WIOA Advisor at one of Job Service North Dakota's nine workforce centers; see the North Dakota student and vocational guide.