Black Hills State University
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 7.1-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 79 Title IV programs, 17 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 1 fails. 61 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing17 · 21.5%
- No Data61 · 77.2%
- Failing1 · 1.3%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Higher Learning Commission
Higher Learning Commission
Programmatic accreditations · 2
Action history · 2
- Jul 2023Renewal of AccreditationHigher Learning Commission
- Aug 2014Change in Agency recognitionNational Association of Schools of Music, Commission on Accreditation · Music (MUS) - Institutions and units within institutions offering degree-granting and/or non-degree-granting programs
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 824 students received $4.5M in Pell grants, alongside $6.7M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 948 borrowers who entered repayment, 22 (2.3%) defaulted within three years.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Black Hills State
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 9
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus2
Includes 2 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Ethnicity1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Data quality: 2 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Black Hills State vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Black Hills State selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectBlack Hills State University | 43% | — | 3,346 | $15,911 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs |
| 55% | 93.0% | 3,708 | $15,812 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs | |
| 40% | 97.0% | 4,147 | $12,007 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs | |
| 46% | 56.0% | 4,072 | $15,261 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs | |
| 39% | — | 3,716 | $13,251 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs | |
| 45% | 86.5% | 2,921 | $3,968 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs | |
| Peer group median | 44% | 89.7% | 3,712 | $14,256 |
Institutions like Black Hills State
Explore the federal data for institutions in Black Hills State's comparison group.
- Masters Colleges & Universities: Small ProgramsSouth Dakota
Northern State University
Grad rate55%Admit rate93.0%Enrollment3,708Net price$15,812View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Small ProgramsMissouri
Missouri Southern State University
Grad rate40%Admit rate97.0%Enrollment4,147Net price$12,007View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Small ProgramsMinnesota
Bemidji State University
Grad rate46%Admit rate56.0%Enrollment4,072Net price$15,261View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Small ProgramsMissouri
Missouri Western State University
Grad rate39%Admit rate—Enrollment3,716Net price$13,251View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Small ProgramsIndiana
Indiana University-Kokomo
Grad rate45%Admit rate86.5%Enrollment2,921Net price$3,968View data
Black Hills State Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
This page provides 'Right to Know' information including enrollment profiles, retention rates, graduation rates, and completion rates for Black Hills State University. It also includes contact information for the university in Spearfish, SD.
Visit IR office page- Michael WhitleyDirector, Institutional Research
Frequently asked questions about Black Hills State University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Black Hills State.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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