College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of South Dakota

SDMedium public institution · Overall rank #723 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places University of South Dakota in the 51st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

The University of South Dakota is a public university in Vermillion, South Dakota, where Health Professions and Business lead the degree mix. Return is above average, and graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them.

The model attributes the gain to the factors it measures, which add to expected earnings, while the remainder it cannot explain subtracts from them. The typical graduate earns above the median at comparable schools.

The raw and adjusted pictures point the same way. Access is below the levels seen at many peers, and Pell students complete below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole.

The lowest income band averages a net price under the published cost, and the highest band also sits below it. The admission rate is above the median for comparable institutions.

An estimated share of graduates continues to graduate study, so most are estimated to go into work rather than further study. A student drawn to Nursing should know it is both the largest program and among the best-paid.

University of South Dakota at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
98.8%
Six-year completion[2]
59.9%
Four-year earnings[3]
$62,334

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$18,540
Median student debt[4]
$23,592
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$15,000

University of South Dakota rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

The University of South Dakota is a public university in Vermillion, South Dakota, enrolling 5,439 undergraduates. Its composite standing in the Azimuth ranking sits near the middle of the field among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

The four are spread out: return is the strongest, while access is the weakest. Mobility and affordability sit between them.

The university admits 98.8% of applicants, a rate above the 85.9% median for comparable public universities of similar size. Of students who start full time, 79.3% return for a second year, against a median of 73.7% at comparable institutions.

The six-year graduation rate is 59.9%, compared to a median of 49.1% for the same group. An estimated 21.0% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so a substantial share of the student body did not begin their studies here.

The pillar profile shows a public university where return is strongest and access is weakest. The gap between the strongest and weakest pillars is wide, with mobility and affordability sitting closer together in the middle of the field. That spread leaves access as the outlier in the profile.

Return is the clearest part of the university’s Azimuth profile, with the return pillar in the 69th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That is the strongest of the four measures.

Azimuth places mobility in the 52nd percentile and affordability in the 57th percentile, while access is the weakest pillar at the 17th percentile. The profile is strongest on return and weakest on access.

Pell Grants reach 18.7% of the undergraduate population at University of South Dakota, the share Azimuth uses to measure financial access. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks University of South Dakota #1,224 for access.

For Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year completion rate is 41.3%, a level that sits 18.6 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (59.9%). Azimuth ranks University of South Dakota #701 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,911 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

University of South Dakota rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#723

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 52
Access & reach
National percentile: 17
Affordability
National percentile: 57
Return on investment
National percentile: 69

01 / University of South Dakota briefing

University of South Dakota cost & financial aid[6][7]

The University of South Dakota publishes a cost of attendance of $24,422. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $7,773 and required fees of $1,659 for the 2025-26 academic year, with on-campus food and housing at $9,508.

Out-of-state students face a published tuition of $11,283. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $19,858, which is $5,790 above the $14,068 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #612 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at University of South Dakota is $24,422, and aid recipients’ prices vary across family-income bands. The average net price is $14,921 for the lowest-income band, $15,942 for the lower-middle-income band, $18,540 for the middle-income band, $21,202 for the upper-middle-income band, and $22,193 for the highest-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $7,272. Azimuth ranks the university #612 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 19% of the published cost, an average savings of $4,564. Across all aid recipients, the is $19,858, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships.

The peer median net price, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $14,068, with the university’s average $5,790 above that figure. Aid reduces the published cost, though the overall average remains above the peer median.

Among borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $23,592. The peer median debt for comparable institutions (same type and size) is $21,229, and the university’s figure is $2,363 above it.

94.8% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans, and that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $268 a month if repaid over ten years. Parent PLUS borrowers have median borrowing of $15,000.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$18,540

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of South Dakota

At University of South Dakota, 94.8% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans, making borrowing a central part of the cost picture. Among federal-loan borrowers who complete, median federal student loan debt is $23,592.

These debt figures describe completers who borrowed federal loans rather than every graduate. At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median federal debt is $21,229, and this university’s median is $2,363 above it.

For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $15,000.

Graduates of University of South Dakota earn a median of $62,334 four years after completing a degree, at the 58th percentile nationally. That is $5,033 above the $57,301 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

They earn about $5,911 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that sits at the 74th percentile. Earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, range from $47,446 in a downside case to $72,880 in an upside case, with a typical scenario of $62,334.

On the borrowing side, completers who take federal loans leave with a median of $23,592, which is $2,363 above the peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $268 a month if repaid over ten years.

Family borrowing can extend beyond the student-loan figure. Parent borrowers have median Parent PLUS borrowing of $15,000.

For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $268 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$23,592
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$15,000

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$268/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$191/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / University of South Dakota briefing

University of South Dakota career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

University of South Dakota shows a comparatively favorable return profile, with its return pillar in the 69th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, according to Azimuth. Graduates earn about $5,911 more than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places that earnings-beyond-expectations result, the gap between graduate earnings and the model’s expectation for similar students, in the 74th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,700.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $2,789. Federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $62,334 four years after completion, in the 58th percentile.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, with earnings $5,033 above it. Earnings beyond expectations and the peer comparison point in the same direction.

University of South Dakota shows a favorable early earnings picture, with median earnings of $62,334 four years after completion for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Azimuth puts that earnings measure in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawing on an earnings cohort of 1,435 completers.

The typical earnings scenario, based on the program mix, is $62,334 rather than an observed group result. An estimated 27.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

The earnings measure sits above the middle of nonprofit four-year institutions, while the modeled graduate-study estimate signals that some graduates may continue their education rather than enter the workforce immediately.

University of South Dakota posts median earnings of $62,334 four years after completion, a figure in the 58th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $57,301, leaving the university $5,033 above that reference.

Graduates earn about $5,911 more than the model expects for similar students. The gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students falls in the 74th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,700. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $2,789.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $84. Downside and upside earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix are $47,446 and $72,880 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks the university #457 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. The peer comparison and the model expectation both place earnings above their reference points.

Nursing is the largest listed field, with 163 degrees awarded and median earnings of $73,025 four years after completion. Health and Medical Administrative Services awarded 19 degrees and has median earnings of $74,816; that is 1.27x times the national median for its field.

Earnings can differ markedly across the program mix at University of South Dakota: the downside scenario is $47,446, and the upside scenario is $72,880. These scenarios describe lower- and higher-earning program clusters, not observed groups of graduates.

Among individual fields, median earnings four years after completion are $74,816 in Health and Medical Administrative Services, $73,025 in Nursing, and $71,463 in Economics. Those field results help explain the distance between the modeled lower and upper scenarios.

At University of South Dakota, higher earnings come alongside borrowing that sits above the peer median. Borrowers who completed had median federal student loan debt of $23,592, compared with $21,229 at comparable institutions of the same type and size, a difference of $2,363.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $268 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, adds a favorable outcome measure.

Graduates earn about $5,911 more than the model expects for similar students. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $19,858 and sits above the $14,068 peer median by $5,790.

Above-expected earnings point one way, while higher borrowing and net price point another.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$8,700
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$2,789
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$5,911

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / University of South Dakota briefing

University of South Dakota acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

University of South Dakota admitted 98.8% of applicants, a rate above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 5,965 first-year applicants, 5,892 admitted applicants, and 1,418 enrolled students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
98.8%
25th percentile
1145
Median
1200
75th percentile
1260

CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / University of South Dakota briefing

What are the largest majors at University of South Dakota?[12]

At University of South Dakota, four-year earnings differ sharply across fields, so the program selected matters to the return picture. Health and Medical Administrative Services sits at the higher end, with median earnings of $74,816 four years after completion and 19 degrees awarded.

Nursing also posts higher earnings of $73,025 across 163 degrees awarded. The more moderate-earning fields in this group include Business Administration and Management, at $64,890 with 75 degrees awarded, and Teacher Education, at $46,034 with 100 degrees awarded.

Higher earnings appear in health-related fields here, while the large education field sits at a more moderate level.

Health Professions shapes the academic mix, accounting for 30.3% of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Published earnings cover 23 bachelor’s fields, giving readers a view of outcomes across a broad set of programs.

Among the largest fields, Nursing awarded 163 degrees and had median earnings of $73,025 four years after completion; Teacher Education awarded 100 degrees and had median earnings of $46,034; Health Sciences awarded 78 degrees and had median earnings of $61,518; Business Administration and Management awarded 75 degrees and had median earnings of $64,890; and Biology awarded 69 degrees and had median earnings of $58,099. The range across these large fields makes program choice especially relevant to the earnings picture.

The University of South Dakota awards bachelor's degrees across a mix of professional and liberal arts fields, with Health Professions leading at 30.3% of degrees awarded. Business follows at 18.8%, and Education accounts for 11.1%.

The university has 23 programs with published four-year earnings data. The largest single program is Nursing, at 163 degrees awarded, followed by Teacher Education at 100 and Health Sciences at 78.

The highest-earning program is a smaller one: Health and Medical Administrative Services graduates earn a median of $74,816 four years after completion, from 19 degrees awarded a year. Nursing, the largest program, is also the second-highest-earning at $73,025.

Economics, with 14 degrees awarded, and Accounting, with 55 degrees awarded, follow, with median earnings of $71,463 and $71,179 respectively. Finance rounds out the top five, with 46 degrees awarded and median earnings of $70,100.

The pattern is one of strength concentrated in health and business fields, where the top earners are found in both large and small programs. Teacher Education, the second-largest program, earns a median of $46,034, a figure that sits below the university's top earners but near the national median for its field. Across all fields, 10.5% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 163 degrees awarded
$73,025
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 100 degrees awarded
$46,034
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General 78 degrees awarded
$61,518
Business Administration, Management and Operations 75 degrees awarded
$64,890
Biology, General 69 degrees awarded
$58,099
Psychology, General 66 degrees awarded
$50,993

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / University of South Dakota briefing

How does University of South Dakota serve students from different backgrounds?

Completion is stronger for the full first-time, full-time cohort than for Pell recipients: the six-year graduation rate is 59.9%, while Pell recipients complete within six years at 41.3%, below the overall rate by 18.6 percentage points. Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 52nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, offers a more favorable result. Graduates earn about $5,911 more than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places in the 74th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Above-expected earnings coexist with a lower completion rate for Pell recipients.

University of South Dakota admits 98.8% of applicants, making entry broad despite a comparatively limited access standing. Pell Grant recipients account for 18.7% of undergraduates, and an estimated 21.0% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.

Undergraduate enrollment is 5,439. Azimuth places the access pillar in the 17th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Broad admission sits alongside modest Pell participation and a notable transfer presence.

06 / University of South Dakota briefing

What colleges are similar to University of South Dakota?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with University of South Dakota.

Admissions peerSouth Dakota State University98.3% admitted
Comparison with University of South Dakota
MeasureUniversity of South DakotaSouth Dakota State University
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,334$63,042+$708 vs University of South Dakota
Average annual net price$19,858$19,841-$17 vs University of South Dakota · lower cost
Admission rate98.8%98.3%
Explore South Dakota State University →
Nearby alternativeDakota Wesleyan UniversityNearby option · SD
Comparison with University of South Dakota
MeasureUniversity of South DakotaDakota Wesleyan University
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,334$64,461+$2,127 vs University of South Dakota
Average annual net price$19,858$19,735-$123 vs University of South Dakota · lower cost
Admission rate98.8%73.4%
Higher-earnings alternativeCal Poly Maritime Academy$108,757 earnings
Comparison with University of South Dakota
MeasureUniversity of South DakotaCal Poly Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,334$108,757+$46,423 vs University of South Dakota
Average annual net price$19,858$20,555+$697 vs University of South Dakota · higher cost
Admission rate98.8%95.0%
Explore Cal Poly Maritime Academy →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Lehman College$3,148 average net price
Comparison with University of South Dakota
MeasureUniversity of South DakotaCUNY Lehman College
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,334$63,353+$1,019 vs University of South Dakota
Average annual net price$19,858$3,148-$16,710 vs University of South Dakota · lower cost
Admission rate98.8%56.6%
Explore CUNY Lehman College →
Similar profileUniversity of Missouri-St LouisMatched across several measures
Comparison with University of South Dakota
MeasureUniversity of South DakotaUniversity of Missouri-St Louis
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,334$62,350+$16 vs University of South Dakota
Average annual net price$19,858$15,071-$4,787 vs University of South Dakota · lower cost
Admission rate98.8%62.7%
Explore University of Missouri-St Louis →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings