FARGO (AP) - The state Board of Higher Education is considering new rules for reporting money problems at state college campuses.

Board members asked for a policy change earlier this year, after learning Mayville State University had amassed deficits of $870,000.

Campuses now have to report to the board funds that have deficits of $50,000 or more. The University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University report deficits of $100,000 or more.

Mayville State reported two deficits that were more than $50,000, but the campus had smaller, unreported deficits totaling about $150,000, said Tamara Barber, director of financial reporting for the North Dakota University System.

The board's budget and finance committee is recommending that campuses be required to report cumulative deficits of $25,000 or more. NDSU and UND would have a threshold of $50,000 or more.

The recommendation will go to the full board next week.

"This is an important step forward in terms of ensuring the state Board of Higher Education will have an awareness of the deficits at the various institutions," Board President John Q. Paulsen said.

The budget and finance committee, meeting in a conference call, also addressed an athletic fund deficit at Valley City State University that would have been reported sooner with the new requirement.

The $140,000 shortfall was scheduled to be paid off by 2008. Valley City State officials asked that the deadline be extended to 2010, citing higher-than-expected travel costs. The committee compromised and recommended extending the deadline to 2009.

The committee also recommended distributing a $1.2 million payment from a reciprocity agreement with Minnesota to the campuses that enroll the most Minnesota students.

Ninety percent of the money will go to NDSU and UND, and the rest will be divided among the nine other campuses according to the number of Minnesota students they enrolled last year.

The payment is based on the difference in the flow of students between the two states and the cost of educating the students.

The finance committee recommended up to $60,000 of the board's contingency funds to help pay for Mayville State's expenses involving the search for a new campus president.