Best programs to become a surgeon in South Dakota
1 South Dakota school offers programs that train for this job, graduating 60 people a year. South Dakota has about 120 jobs in this occupation (BLS OEWS May 2025).
BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for this job. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in South Dakota is Medicine (IPEDS completions).
All surgeons not listed.
1 program in South Dakota that leads 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.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.1201In South Dakota → | 60 | 100.0% | 1 | $33,290 | $23,488 |
Top 1 schools in South Dakota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 1 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD Public · 1 feeder program | 60 | Medicine | — | 60% | — | 99% |
All 1 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of South Dakota | Vermillion | Public | 60 | 1 |
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.
What surgeons, all other earn in South Dakota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Concentrated here: South Dakota employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in South Dakota, by employment
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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 and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Surgeons, All Other page.
How to become a surgeon
- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
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 Surgeons, All Other2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.1201Medicine
- 51.1202Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy
- 61.0101Combined Medical Residency/Fellowship Program, General(no graduates reported)
- 61.0199Combined Medical Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
- 61.0299Multiple-Pathway Medical Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
- 61.1001Neurological Surgery Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.1099Neurological Surgery Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
- 61.1701Otolaryngology Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.1702Neurotology Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.1799Otolaryngology Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
- 61.2101Plastic Surgery Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2102Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2103Plastic Surgery Within the Head and Neck Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2199Plastic Surgery Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
- 61.2701General Surgery Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2702Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2703Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2704Congenital Cardiac Surgery Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2706Surgical Critical Care Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2707Thoracic Surgery Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2708Vascular Surgery Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2799Surgery Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
- 61.2801Urology Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 61.2899Urology Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
- 61.9999Medical Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing surgeons, all other programs in South Dakota.
What degree do you need to become a surgeon?+
BLS lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for this job. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in South Dakota is Medicine (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a surgeon?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job in South Dakota is Medicine (IPEDS completions). In all, 1 feeder program graduates about 60 people a year in South Dakota (IPEDS completions).
Is demand for surgeons, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +3.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in South Dakota?+
1 institutions in South Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Internship/residency' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card