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 16.6-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 177 Title IV programs, 40 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 1 fails. 136 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing40 · 22.6%
- No Data136 · 76.8%
- Failing1 · 0.6%
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
Programmatic accreditations · 21
Action history · 20
- Aug 2024Grant Substantive Change: OtherAmerican Occupational Therapy Association, Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education · Occupational Therapy (OTD) - Programs leading to a Doctoral Degree
- Aug 2023Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Occupational Therapy Association, Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education · Occupational Therapy (OTD) - Programs leading to a Doctoral Degree
- Feb 2023Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)
- Apr 2021Grant Substantive Change: ProgramAmerican Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)
- Feb 2021Removal of Show Cause StatusAmerican Bar Association, Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar · Law (LAW) - Professional schools
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, 1,636 students received $9.3M in Pell grants, alongside $52.5M 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 2,264 borrowers who entered repayment, 18 (0.7%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
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 University of South Dakota
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 · 10
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 campus9
- Non-campus1
- Public property1
Includes 7 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Mickelson Hall1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
- Burgess Hall1 fireCookingDamage $100-$999
- Coyote Village1 fireCookingDamage $100-$999
Data quality: 5 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.
University of South Dakota vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions University of South Dakota 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectUniversity of South Dakota | 60% | — | 10,619 | $19,858 | R2 Research |
| 62% | 98.3% | 12,056 | $19,841 | R2 Research | |
| 54% | 72.2% | 14,732 | $13,310 | R2 Research | |
| 57% | 62.7% | 14,736 | $15,071 | R2 Research | |
| 49% | 87.0% | 14,972 | $13,441 | R2 Research | |
| 61% | 76.9% | 15,019 | $18,551 | R2 Research | |
| Peer group median | 59% | 76.9% | 14,734 | $16,811 |
Institutions like University of South Dakota
Explore the federal data for institutions in University of South Dakota's comparison group.
- R2 ResearchSouth Dakota
South Dakota State University
Grad rate62%Admit rate98.3%Enrollment12,056Net price$19,841View data - R2 ResearchMissouri
University of Missouri-Kansas City
Grad rate54%Admit rate72.2%Enrollment14,732Net price$13,310View data - R2 ResearchMissouri
University of Missouri-St Louis
Grad rate57%Admit rate62.7%Enrollment14,736Net price$15,071View data - R2 ResearchNebraska
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Grad rate49%Admit rate87.0%Enrollment14,972Net price$13,441View data - R2 ResearchNorth Dakota
University of North Dakota
Grad rate61%Admit rate76.9%Enrollment15,019Net price$18,551View data
University of South Dakota Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
The Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment supports the university community by providing information, services, and data analysis that inform and enhance strategic decision-making.
Visit IR office page- Daniel PalmerAssociate VP, Institutional Research
Common Data Set
University of South Dakota's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Selectivity & Admissions
Admissions funnel
C16,380 applied → 6,306 admitted (98.8%) → 1,221 enrolled.
Selectivity
C1Accessible — 98.8% acceptance rate.
Admit rate by gender
C1Admit rate varies by gender.
SAT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% SAT 1120–1290 (median 1205).
ACT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% ACT 19–25 (median 22).
High-school class rank
C10Share of enrolled first-years by HS class-rank band.
What matters in admission
C7Relative importance of each admission factor.
Affordability & Value
Cost of attendance
GTotal sticker cost of attendance is $27,021 (2026-2027).
Sticker vs. net price
G+HSticker $27,021 → about $19,762 net for aided students after the average need-based grant ($7,259); 62% of demonstrated need is met.
Where grant aid comes from
H139% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.
Graduate debt
H4/H565% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $27,794 on average.
Outcomes & Equity
Graduation & retention
B6-year graduation rate 60%; first-year retention 77%.
Equity: Pell graduation gap
B4Pell-grant recipients graduate 11 pts below the overall rate (50% vs 60%).
Academic Experience
Class-size distribution
I350% of classes have under 20 students; 7% have 50+.
Faculty profile
IKey faculty indicators.
Degrees by discipline
JSTEM-dominant: ~10% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.
Student Body & Diversity
Undergraduate race/ethnicity
B2Undergraduate enrollment by race/ethnicity.
International students
B25% of undergraduates are international (nonresident).
Undergrad vs graduate
B17,515 undergraduates and 2,890 graduate students.
Transfer Path
Transfer admissions
D1691 transfer applicants → 671 admitted (97.1%) → 312 enrolled — more selective than first-year admission.
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about University of South Dakota
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about University of South Dakota.
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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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