{"answer":"South Dakota has 1 state scholarship program for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table says what each one pays, who qualifies, and when it closes, in the state's own words.","as_of":"October 2026","date":"2026-10-21","dek":"The table holds every state-funded award we could confirm for a South Dakota high school graduate going to college. It does not hold federal aid, or a scholarship that comes from one college rather than from the state.","faq":[{"a":"South Dakota has 1 state scholarship program for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table says what each one pays, who qualifies, and when it closes, in the state's own words.","q":"What scholarships does South Dakota offer?"},{"a":"South Dakota runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores, and South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship (SDOS) is one of them.","q":"Does South Dakota have a merit scholarship?"},{"a":"Every row links to the page the state publishes for that program. The rules and the dollar figures move from year to year, so the page is the thing to read, not a summary of it.","q":"How do I find the rules for a South Dakota scholarship?"}],"findings":[{"h":"South Dakota runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores.","p":"South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship (SDOS) is one of them. 1 of the 1 programs we could read name a GPA, and 1 name a test score. A need-based award asks about family income instead, through the FAFSA."},{"h":"The state's own pages are the only place these rules live.","p":"Every row links to the page the state publishes for that program. The rules and the dollar figures move from year to year, so the page is the thing to read, not a summary of it."},{"h":"What this table does not tell you.","p":"Every figure on the table was read off the state's own page for that program. Nothing is estimated and nothing is carried over from an earlier year."}],"license":"CC BY 4.0 \u2014 quote with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)","method":"Programs come from the South Dakota Board of Regents and the agency's own program pages, read in October 2026. The population is a student who graduates from a South Dakota high school and enrolls as an undergraduate. A scholarship offered by one college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all out of scope. A value the agency's own page does not state is left blank rather than filled from elsewhere, and a page that could not be read drops every figure.","question":"What scholarships are available in South Dakota?","related":[{"label":"Merit scholarships by college","url":"/merit-scholarships"},{"label":"State scholarships in every state","url":"/research/state-scholarships-every-state"},{"label":"High schools in South Dakota","url":"/research/high-schools-in-south-dakota"},{"label":"Scholarship deadlines","url":"/research/scholarship-deadlines-2027"}],"sections":[{"h2":"How to read a state scholarship","paragraphs":["State awards come in two shapes. A merit award asks about grades, a course list, or a test score, and it does not care what a family earns. A need-based award asks about income and assets through the FAFSA, and it does not care about grades. Some awards ask about both, and the table calls those merit and need.","The deadline column is the one families miss. For most need-based state aid the deadline is really the FAFSA deadline, and it falls months before a college asks for a decision. A merit award more often has no application at all: the state or the high school nominates the student from records it already holds."]},{"h2":"What a family should do with this","paragraphs":["Open the official page in the last column for the one or two programs your student plausibly qualifies for, and write down two dates: the state aid deadline and the FAFSA deadline. Those are the two that close. In South Dakota the earliest date on this table is the one to put on the calendar first.","Then look past the state. A state award is usually the smaller half of an offer. The college's own merit grid and its net price for your family income move more money than any state program on this page, and both are published."]}],"slug":"scholarships-in-south-dakota","sources":[{"label":"South Dakota Board of Regents","url":"https://ourdakotadreams.com"},{"label":"South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship (SDOS)","url":"https://ourdakotadreams.com/high-school/opportunity-scholarship/"}],"tables":[{"columns":[{"fmt":"str","key":"program","label":"Program"},{"fmt":"str","key":"kind","label":"Merit or need"},{"fmt":"str","key":"award","label":"What it pays"},{"fmt":"str","key":"gpa","label":"GPA it asks for"},{"fmt":"str","key":"test","label":"Test score it asks for"},{"fmt":"str","key":"who","label":"Who qualifies"},{"fmt":"str","key":"deadline","label":"Deadline"},{"fmt":"str","key":"renewable","label":"Renewable"},{"fmt":"url","key":"source","label":"Official page"}],"h2":"Every state scholarship in South Dakota","intro":"Read the row, then open the state's own page before you count on a figure.","note":"Every row is a state-funded or state-administered award for a South Dakota high school graduate going to an undergraduate program, as of October 2026. A scholarship from a single college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all left out. A blank cell means the state's own page does not state it. Dollar figures and GPA floors change every year.","rows":[{"award":"Up to $7,500 total, available over up to four academic years (eight consecutive fall/spring terms)","deadline":"Preferred deadline June 1, final deadline September 1, ahead of the fall term the student enrolls","gpa":"Option 1 (ACT 24-27): unweighted 3.0 GPA (4.0 scale) required; Option 2 (ACT 28+): no GPA requirement; renewal requires maintaining a cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher","kind":"Merit","program":"South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship (SDOS)","renewable":"Renewable for up to four academic years (eight consecutive fall and spring terms) if the student maintains a cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher and continuous enrollment","source":"https://ourdakotadreams.com/high-school/opportunity-scholarship/","test":"Option 1: ACT Composite or Super Score of 24 or higher; Option 2: ACT Composite or Super Score of 28 or higher","who":"South Dakota resident; Option 1 also requires a specific high school course list (4 units Language Arts, 3 Social Studies, 4 Mathematics, 4 Science, 2 World Language or CTE, each with a final grade no lower than 'C'); must attend a participating South Dakota school and enroll within 5 years of high school graduation; must complete consecutive fall/spring terms to keep renewing"}]}],"title":"Scholarships in South Dakota: the 1 state program and what each asks for","updated":null,"url":"https://highschoolreach.com/research/scholarships-in-south-dakota"}