🎓 College profile
Dakota State University
SD · Public · Distant town · 988 applicants 2023
🧭 A parent's read
- Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 3 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields; it offers a dedicated AI major. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$25,753/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$50,970/yr) still runs about 5× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
🎯 Parent/student verdict
LikelyAccessible for most applicants. Major value play for in-state residents.
✅ Best for
- Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
- In-state residents (tuition ~$9,654 — major value play)
- Students focused on Computer & Information Sciences (the school's signature program)
- Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience
🎯 The reality
- Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1020, or ACT below 20, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
📊 Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
💰 The real cost
What families at your income actually pay
Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $23,269/yr at Dakota State University; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$25,753/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.
🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.
Start your Family Decision Report →Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with Dakota State University's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).
📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways
4.9× at full price 6.1× with aidSource: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
📚 What students study here
Most popular majors at Dakota State University
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Dakota State University actually graduates — not just what it markets.
💼 What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Dakota State University's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | $85,696 |
| Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management. | $78,637 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | $69,841 |
| Information Science/Studies. | $56,991 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | $48,997 |
| Special Education and Teaching. | $46,095 |
| Computer Software and Media Applications. | $42,513 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Alternatives to Dakota State University
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on Dakota State University?
Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for Dakota State University and every other college on your list.
Get your child's odds at Dakota State University →Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid
For Parents
Get alerts when Dakota State University's numbers change
New admit rates, costs, and outcomes — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.
Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.