College profile
University of South Dakota
SD · Public · Distant town · 5,349 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$24,422/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$51,926/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
AccessibleAccessible for most applicants. Affordable — net price averages ~$19,858/yr among aid recipients. 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 ~$9,432 — major value play)
- Students focused on Health Professions (the school's signature program)
- Research-curious students (R2 — active research output)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1110, or ACT below 19, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
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Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
2% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 73% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
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 University of South Dakota actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by University of South Dakota's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$422K ahead at full price +$440K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. 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 University of South Dakota
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of South Dakota actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — University of South Dakota's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | $74,816 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | $73,025 |
| Economics. | $71,463 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | $71,179 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | $70,100 |
| Dental Support Services and Allied Professions. | $68,556 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | $64,890 |
| Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies. | $64,104 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | $64,069 |
| Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General. | $61,518 |
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 →
AI program signal
AI + computing education at University of South Dakota
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
Alternatives to University of South Dakota
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantUniversity of South Dakota is a public four-year college in SD. It admitted 99% of applicants (5,349 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1110–1330, ACT 19–25. 2% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 73% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Cost: about $19,858 a year on average with aid, $24,422 a year at full price for in-state students.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $51,926 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $439,828 ahead with aid, $421,572 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Health and Medical Administrative Services ($74,816); Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing ($73,025); Economics ($71,463).
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/university-of-south-dakota.json