South Dakota·Educational Instruction and Library Occupations·SOC 25-1066

Best Psychology Teacher, Postsecondary programs in South Dakota, ranked by enrollment

Teach courses in psychology, such as child, clinical, and developmental psychology, and psychological counseling.

10 schools in South Dakota run programs that feed this job, graduating 377 people a year. The job pays a median of $65,020 in South Dakota across about 70 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledProfessorInstructorPsychology ProfessorPsychology InstructorTeacherLecturerFaculty MemberAdjunct Professor
Graduates / yr
377
in South Dakota
Median pay · South Dakota
$65,020
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
70
people employed
Schools
10
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
52%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,972
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in South Dakota that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

6 programs in South Dakota that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in South Dakota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own South Dakota page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1245
65.0%
8$31,426$25,250
291
24.1%
3$33,805$27,000
326
6.9%
1$37,335$22,861
412
3.2%
2$36,206$29,240
52
0.5%
1$33,805$27,000
61
0.3%
1$34,454$21,878

Top 10 schools in South Dakota

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 10 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD Public · 2 feeder programs
117Psychology, General$35,42562%98%
2University of South Dakota
Vermillion, SD Public · 4 feeder programs
110Psychology, General$31,69660%99%
3University of Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls, SD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
36Psychology, General$27,24163%$19,43983%
4Kairos University
Sioux Falls, SD Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
30Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling85%
5Augustana University
Sioux Falls, SD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
23Psychology, General$39,09873%$23,01168%
6Black Hills State University
Spearfish, SD Public · 1 feeder programs
23Psychology, General$35,99643%96%
7Northern State University
Aberdeen, SD Public · 1 feeder programs
21Psychology, General49%93%
8Sisseton Wahpeton College
Sisseton, SD Public · 1 feeder programs
10Behavioral Sciences21%
9Dakota Wesleyan University
Mitchell, SD Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
4Behavioral Sciences48%$17,60873%
10Mount Marty University
Yankton, SD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Psychology, General52%$22,97243%

All 10 schools in South Dakota

Every school in South Dakota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in South Dakota that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
South Dakota State UniversityBrookingsPublic1172
University of South DakotaVermillionPublic1104
University of Sioux FallsSioux FallsPrivate not-for-profit361
Kairos UniversitySioux FallsPrivate not-for-profit302
Augustana UniversitySioux FallsPrivate not-for-profit231
Black Hills State UniversitySpearfishPublic231
Northern State UniversityAberdeenPublic211
Sisseton Wahpeton CollegeSissetonPublic101
Dakota Wesleyan UniversityMitchellPrivate not-for-profit42
Mount Marty UniversityYanktonPrivate not-for-profit31

What psychology teachers, postsecondary earn in South Dakota

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in South Dakota
$65,020
Mean annual
$75,780
Jobs in state
70
What the range looks like
10th pct$58,870Median$65,02090th pct$111,750
Versus the national median
-19.1%

U.S. median $80,340. South Dakota pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.54×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.6%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
4,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,900
52,500 → 54,400
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary page.

How to become a Psychology Teacher, Postsecondary

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional degree

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Top skills

Learning StrategiesSpeakingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningWritingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in South Dakota

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 25 majors mapped to Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary24 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.1335Psychology Teacher Education
  • 30.1001Biopsychology
  • 30.1701Behavioral Sciences
  • 30.5301Thanatology
  • 42.0101Psychology, General
  • 42.2701Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics
  • 42.2702Comparative Psychology
  • 42.2703Developmental and Child Psychology
  • 42.2704Experimental Psychology
  • 42.2705Personality Psychology
  • 42.2706Behavioral Neuroscience
  • 42.2707Social Psychology
  • 42.2708Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology
  • 42.2710Developmental and Adolescent Psychology(no graduates reported)
  • 42.2799Research and Experimental Psychology, Other
  • 42.2801Clinical Psychology
  • 42.2802Community Psychology
  • 42.2803Counseling Psychology
  • 42.2804Industrial and Organizational Psychology
  • 42.2805School Psychology
  • 42.2806Educational Psychology
  • 42.2807Clinical Child Psychology
  • 42.2808Environmental Psychology
  • 42.2809Geropsychology
  • 42.2810Health/Medical Psychology

Common questions

Answers for people weighing psychology teachers, postsecondary programs in South Dakota.

What degree do you need to become a Psychology Teacher, Postsecondary?+

Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Psychology, General, which awarded 245 degrees in South Dakota in 2024-25, 65.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Psychology Teacher, Postsecondary?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Psychology, Clinical, Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions, Behavioral Sciences, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 377 people a year in South Dakota.

How much do psychology teachers, postsecondary earn in South Dakota?+

The median is $65,020 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 19.1% below the U.S. median of $80,340. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for psychology teachers, postsecondary growing?+

BLS projects a +3.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 4,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in South Dakota?+

10 institutions in South Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do psychology teachers, postsecondary work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Psychology Professor, Psychology Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1066.

Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in other statesCaliforniaNew YorkTexasFloridaArizonaVirginiaPennsylvaniaMinnesota

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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