This article does not answer that question for you. It gives you what you need to answer it yourself, together with your child, with the real numbers from this university on the table.
What kind of school it is, in a nutshell
University of South Dakota is a public, four-year institution located in Vermillion, South Dakota, in Clay County. The system that classifies universities across the country—Carnegie—places it among doctoral universities with high research activity and describes it as a medium-sized, primarily residential school: at the time of that measurement, between 25 and 49 out of every 100 undergraduate students lived in institution-provided housing. In its undergraduate profile, Carnegie places it in its selective-admissions group.
This is worth stating clearly: Carnegie is not a rating. It does not accredit, recommend, or grade anyone. It simply tells you which schools this one resembles so that you can decide based on everything else.
The area around the campus is a town, not a city. Vermillion is far from major urban areas. If your family does not live nearby, this truly matters: figure out separately where your child would live and how they would get to campus, because this information only locates the school’s address, not yours or the actual travel distance.
IPEDS, the federal system that collects these data, records the doctorate as the highest level the institution reports offering and classifies it as a school that primarily awards bachelor’s degrees or higher-level degrees. That does not tell you whether the major your child wants is offered here or whether it connects to a graduate program—you have to verify that yourself, program by program.
And one point worth making clear from the start: University of South Dakota is not listed as a historically Black college or university, a tribal college or university, or a land-grant institution. That does not tell you which communities it serves or how your child will feel there. Ask directly: what cultural centers exist today, what student organizations are available, and, better yet, speak with someone who already attends the university.
The community’s actual size
In the most recently reported fall term, University of South Dakota had 9,868 enrolled students. It is neither a small school nor a huge one: it falls within the 5,000 to 9,999 range, one of the most common among similar schools.
But that large number hides something important: it is divided between 7,095 undergraduate students and 2,773 graduate students. If your child is entering a bachelor’s degree program, the number that truly matters is 7,095, not the total. A substantial part of this school’s population consists of people who have already completed a degree and returned for more education.
Within that undergraduate community, there are more women than men: 65 out of every 100. Adults ages 25 to 64 are a minority, just 7 out of every 100. And slightly more than half of first-time students, 53 out of every 100, came from the same state.
This calls for some candor. Among undergraduate students, 5 out of every 100 are Hispanic or Latino. It is a small minority, and compared with similar selective public schools, it falls in the lowest quarter of that group. That does not make this a bad school, just as having many Latino students would not make any other school good. It is simply a fact about who is enrolled. If your child will be one of the few, the task is concrete: ask what student groups and support services exist, and speak with a Latino student who is already there before deciding. The number shown here covers the entire school; your child’s experience in their specific major may look different.
How the academic year works and how broad the offerings are
The academic year at University of South Dakota is organized into semesters: two long terms of about 15 weeks each. The institution accepts credit from AP exams, but it did not indicate that it accepts credit for life experience, and it does report accepting credit for military training. It also enrolls high school students in college courses for credit through a formal dual-enrollment program.
Here is a hard truth that can spare you a headache later: saying that the university accepts AP does not mean it will award credit for any exam your child takes. It does not say what scores are required, how many credits are awarded, or whether those credits count toward the specific major your child will pursue. Ask for the equivalency evaluation in writing before enrolling. Do not budget for the savings until you have it in hand.
As for the academic offerings: between July 2022 and June 2023, the university awarded 1,166 bachelor’s degrees across 22 fields of study. But those offerings are concentrated: health professions accounted for 374 of those degrees, or 32 out of every 100. The existence of 22 fields of study does not mean there are 22 equally represented options—some account for a great deal, while others account for almost nothing. Verify the exact program that interests your child.
As for the staff serving students, the official ratio is 14 students per full-time-equivalent faculty member, a low figure compared with similar schools. But be careful: this does not tell you the size of first-year classes. It is an institution-wide average, not a promise of small classes.
The institution also reports structured opportunities worth keeping on your radar: study abroad, undergraduate research, a complete program that can be taken entirely during evenings or weekends, and teacher-certification pathways, including state approval for initial teacher certification.
Getting in: the door is open, but there are requirements
University of South Dakota does not have open admission—there are pieces it reviews before saying yes. Of nine possible considerations, it marks three as required: the high school transcript, completion of the college-preparatory coursework the university requires, and an English-proficiency exam for applicants to whom it applies. Other pieces are not required but are considered if submitted: high school GPA, class rank, and letters of recommendation. The undergraduate application fee is $20.
If your child studied outside the United States or attended high school in Spanish, this applies directly to you: ask now whether the English-proficiency exam is required and what would qualify your child for an exemption. This is one of those things families discover late, when it is already harder to resolve.
And now the figure you probably already expected: out of 5,349 first-time applicants, the university offered admission to 5,293. That is 99 out of every 100. Compared with other selective public schools, it is among those that accept the highest shares—at least nine out of ten schools in that group accepted a smaller percentage. Even so, 56 applicants did not receive an offer.
Put bluntly: applicants are almost always accepted here. Your child’s energy is better spent meeting the deadline and completing the application properly than worrying about whether they will get in.
But—and this matters—the fact that it is easy to get in does not tell you whether it is affordable or whether most students finish. Before deciding, you need to examine the net price and graduation rate. Those two calculations carry more weight than the admission calculation.
Out of every 100 students admitted for the first year of 2023, only 26 ultimately enrolled here. The other 74 had the letter in hand and did not use it. Being told yes is not the same as deciding to attend—and that distinction, obvious as it may sound, is exactly what many families forget amid the excitement of receiving an acceptance letter.
As for standardized tests, the SAT and ACT are optional. If your child submits them, they are considered; if not, the application remains valid without them. In fact, only 2 out of every 100 enrolled students submitted SAT scores—one of the lowest shares among schools of its type. Among those who did submit scores, the middle half scored between 570 and 650 in reading and writing and between 540 and 680 in math. But that 570 is not a minimum your child needs to reach, nor is that 650 a guarantee of anything—they are data about students who were already enrolled, not everyone who applied.
And as for changing schools: among the bachelor’s-degree-seeking cohort that entered in 2017, 24 out of every 100 transferred to another institution without completing here. That is a common share among similar schools. Transferring is not failing. But if that possibility exists, your child should know in advance how to request the paperwork needed to leave, and your family should ask the destination institution in writing, with the course list in hand, which credits it would accept.
The price: what it costs and what is actually paid
At University of South Dakota, among 120 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid, paid the in-state or in-district rate, and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $13,687. Among 134 students from the same population with EFC family income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $18,608; among 314 students with EFC family income above $110,000, it was $21,432. For dependent students, the income range combines their parents’ income with their own.
The difference between the average for the lowest-income range (120 students) and the highest-income range (314 students) is $7,745. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship, the average was $18,466.
Among the 519 schools of the same type and control included in this census that reported this figure with the same time coverage, this one falls within the most expensive quarter for the lowest-income families. That does not mean you should rule it out. It means you should request the financial-aid letter before deciding.
The income ranges in this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at this public institution, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average for students receiving grants or scholarships, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships; it also uses that rate. If your family lives outside the state or district, the calculation is different. Ask about it before applying.
Aid, grants, scholarships, and loans: separate the piles
At University of South Dakota, 70 out of every 100 degree-seeking students received aid that does not have to be repaid—grants or scholarships. The average, counting only those who received it, was $6,446 per year. The federal Pell Grant, reserved for families with demonstrated financial need, reached 24 out of every 100 students.
Here is some direct, practical advice: when your child’s financial-aid letter arrives, separate it by hand into three piles. What does not have to be repaid. What must be repaid with interest. And what must be earned through work. Many letters mix them together in a single column, and that confusion is exactly what can cause you to make a bad decision without realizing it.
As for loans, 42 out of every 100 undergraduate students received a federal loan in the 2022-23 academic year. Among those who borrowed, the average was $6,201 that year. But be careful: that percentage describes other families, not yours. The amount your child would need to borrow depends on their own financial-aid letter, not this average. Wait for that letter before ruling out the school and before committing to it. And that amount is not the total debt students have when they graduate—it does not include loans parents take out in their own names, credit-card debt, or the combined total from several years.
The university also reports offering a tuition installment-payment plan and participating in a Promise program—mechanisms that may ease cash flow, but not necessarily the total cost.
Campus life, sports, and support
University of South Dakota has its own housing, with a reported capacity of 2,128 students. It does not require all first-time students to live there. It also offers meal plans, although the number of meals per week varies by plan. The existence of rooms does not guarantee that a bed will be available when your child needs one—ask in writing for the price, the housing application deadline, and whether space is guaranteed or there is a waiting list.
ROTC is available, with the Army branch confirmed in writing. Navy and Air Force are not marked—that does not mean they are impossible options; it means you need to ask directly.
The university competes in intercollegiate athletics and is affiliated with the NCAA, with reported membership in football, basketball, and cross-country or track and field. If sports matter to your child, the membership belongs to the school and is not an individual promise: write directly to the coach, ask whether there is room on the team and whether that sport offers athletic scholarships, and request a written response.
It offers undergraduate and graduate distance education, and 30 out of every 100 undergraduate students took all their classes that way—a high share compared with similar schools. But this is a school-wide average, not one for your child’s major. One major may be offered almost entirely online while the one next to it is offered almost entirely in person.
The library has paid staff, physical and digital materials, and interlibrary loan. And the services and support the institution reports include academic and career counseling, employment services, on-campus child care, a designated point of contact for veterans and military service members, a veterans’ student organization, and a webpage dedicated to services for people with disabilities.
Do students stay? Do they graduate?
This brings us to the figures that, in my view, carry more weight than the admission figures.
Of the cohort that entered full-time in the fall of 2022, 80 out of every 100 were still enrolled there one year later or had already completed a bachelor’s degree. This result ranks slightly above the midpoint among similar schools. For those who entered part-time that same fall, the result was different: 51 out of every 100. These are two groups of people with different circumstances—do not cross-compare those numbers and think that one proves anything about the other.
As for graduation, of the 1,185 students who began a full-time bachelor’s degree program in 2017, 724 had graduated from this same school within six years. That is 61 out of every 100—slightly more than half. At the four-year mark, the figure falls to 48 out of every 100.
And what about the rest of that cohort of 1,185? It is worth seeing the full picture: 6 completed a shorter program at this same school, 286 transferred to another institution without completing at South Dakota, 7 remained enrolled without having finished, and 162 fell into the “no longer enrolled” category—a category that does not explain the reason and may include those who completed their programs after the official time limit.
There is an even longer-term view. Of a cohort of 2,241 students who entered between 2015 and 2016, 56 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from this school eight years later. Among Pell Grant recipients, that figure was 46 out of every 100—fourteen points below the figure for those who did not receive one. Compared with similar schools, this eight-year share ranks below the group’s midpoint.
I will not soften this for you: if your family would qualify for Pell, this difference warrants a direct question to the university, not an assumption on your part. Ask what specifically is available for those students—an assigned advisor, emergency aid, whether the institution’s grant or scholarship renews each year—and request a written response. A family’s qualifying for Pell today does not determine your child’s outcome, but it is a question worth asking before, not after.
Putting the pieces together
You now know a real and substantial part of what University of South Dakota is: a public university where almost anyone who applies will get in, with a published cost that compares favorably with similar schools but a net price for the lowest-income families that ranks among the highest in its group. A school where most students stay and more than half graduate within six years, although that figure is lower among Pell recipients. A community where Latino students are few and where moving to another institution is not uncommon.
None of these numbers decides for you. What you can do is combine them with what your child wants to study, what they have already built in high school, and what your family can and is willing to pay. A real plan comes from that combination, not from any one isolated fact.
Your child’s part is to research their major, visit if possible, and decide whether this feels like the right place. Your part is the money, the deadlines, the uncomfortable questions, and the financial-aid letter before signing anything. It is not your process, nor is it only your child’s. It belongs to both of you, each with a part to play.
Source note: The information in this article comes from IPEDS (the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) and the United States Department of Education, with data corresponding primarily to the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, as indicated for each figure. Best College Aid does not represent University of South Dakota or any government agency; this article organizes and explains public data to help you understand them.