Admissions & selectivity
South Dakota State University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at South Dakota State University?
South Dakota State University’s reported acceptance rate is 98.3%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 98.3%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
South Dakota State University admitted 98.3% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
What SAT and ACT scores do South Dakota State University students report?
Among enrolled first-year students who submitted SAT scores, the middle 50% earned between 1,060 and 1,240. For the ACT, the middle 50% of submitters scored between 19 and 25.
These ranges describe the academic profile of the entering class, not a set of minimum requirements.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at South Dakota State University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
- Approximate lower endpoint
- 1060
- Approximate upper endpoint
- 1240
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.
- 25th percentile
- 19
- 75th percentile
- 25
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at South Dakota State University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 16.8%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 17.6%
- First-year retention
- 83.8%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
South Dakota State University admits nearly everyone who applies, with an admission rate of 98.3%. That sits well above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
The university enrolls 9,198 undergraduates. Pell Grant recipients make up 16.8% of that group, and an estimated 17.6% of students enter as transfers or part-time students.
The undergraduate body leans heavily toward students who start as first-year admits, with transfer and Pell-eligible students forming smaller but steady shares. Financial fit matters more than the admissions decision at this university.
Pell-eligible and transfer applicants can use the net price calculator on this site to see what aid they might receive.
The first-year retention rate at South Dakota State University is 83.8%, and the six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 62.4%. Both figures sit above the medians for comparable institutions, which are 73.7% and 49.1% respectively.
Pell Grant recipients in that cohort complete at 39.4%, which is 23.0 percentage points below the overall rate. The gap is a separate fact to consider alongside the university's overall persistence numbers.
An enrolled student can expect retention and graduation rates that outpace comparable institutions. The Pell completion gap sits alongside those figures, and a student arriving with a Pell Grant should weigh it as part of the picture.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.