Black Hills State University Data & Information Overview
Find out more about how Black Hills State University ranks, how diverse it is, what majors it offers, and other essential facts below. Want to dig deeper into a particular stat? Just click on its tile and you'll be taked to a more in-depth page on the figure. In addition, you can use the links below to quickly jump to any section on this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
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How Well Is Black Hills State University Ranked?
2021 Rankings
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Black Hills State University was awarded 17 badges in the 2021 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is education.
Overall Quality
College Factual ranked BHSU as #1,318 out of 1,715 colleges and universities in the country on its 2021 Best Colleges list. This is an improvement over the previous year, when BHSU held the #1,367 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.
BHSU is also ranked #10 out of 11 schools in South Dakota.
See all of the rankings for Black Hills State University.
Is It Hard to Get Into BHSU?
Acceptance Rate
With an acceptance rate of 87%, Black Hills State University is easier to get into than many other schools. But that doesn't mean you can slack off on your application. Make sure to treat this school like any other when submitting requested materials and documents.
Average Test Scores
About 2% of students accepted to BHSU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 458 and 628. Math scores were between 435 and 588.
Learn more about Black Hills State University admissions.
Black Hills State University Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
At Black Hills State University, the student to faculty ratio is 20 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than they are at other colleges or universities or that professors may be required to teach more classes.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Black Hills State University is 57%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at Black Hills State University
Freshmen Retention Rate
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Black Hills State University is 69%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
Graduation Rate
When we say that a student has graduated on time, we mean that they have finished their bachelor's degree within four years. The on-time graduation rate at BHSU is 16%. That's lower than the national rate of 33.3%
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Black Hills State University.
Average Overall Diversity at BHSU
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 3,947 undergraduates at BHSU with 2,195 being full-time and 1,752 being part-time.
BHSU Diversity Score
College Factual computes an overall diversity score for each college and university that takes gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and age into account. Schools with the best mixtures of students with respect to these factors are ranked the highest, and those that cater to just one or two student groups are ranked the lowest.
BHSU scored 54.09 out of 100 for overall diversity. This is about average when compared to other colleges and universities in the United States.
Get more detailed information on diversity and student demographics at Black Hills State University.
How Much Does Black Hills State University Cost?
The overall average net price of BHSU is $16,073. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for BHSU
$0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
---|---|---|---|---|
$13,012 | $13,401 | $16,721 | $18,522 | $18,853 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of BHSU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At BHSU, approximately 71% of students took out student loans averaging $7,063 a year. That adds up to $28,252 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at BHSU is 8.2%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.
Get more details about paying for Black Hills State University.
How Much Money Do BHSU Graduates Make?
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor's degree recipients from BHSU make around $35,900 per year during the early years of their employment. This is about 10% less that the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
See which majors at Black Hills State University make the most money.
Location of Black Hills State University
Black Hills State University is a public institution located in Spearfish, South Dakota. Spearfish is a great place for students who enjoy small town life.Get more details about the location of Black Hills State University.

Contact details for BHSU are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 1200 University St, Spearfish, SD 57799-9500 |
Phone: | 800-255-2478 |
Website: | www.bhsu.edu |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/BlackHillsState |
Twitter: | http://www.twitter.com/BlackHillsState |
Black Hills State University Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 43 majors graduated from Black Hills State University. Of these students, 490 received undergraduate degrees and 83 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
---|---|---|
Business Administration & Management | 76 | $35,100 |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | 70 | $38,600 |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | 40 | $37,700 |
General Biology | 36 | NA |
Health & Physical Education | 33 | $28,100 |
Community Organization & Advocacy | 25 | $29,000 |
General Psychology | 23 | $25,500 |
Liberal Arts General Studies | 22 | NA |
Special Education | 18 | $38,600 |
Design & Applied Arts | 14 | NA |
Online Learning at BHSU
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
In 2017-2018, 2,017 students took at least one online class at Black Hills State University. This is a decrease from the 2,099 students who took online classes the previous year.
Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
---|---|---|
2017-2018 | 2,017 | 1,106 |
2016-2017 | 2,099 | 1,076 |
2015-2016 | 1,872 | 971 |
2014-2015 | 1,734 | 887 |
2013-2014 | 1,769 | 907 |
Learn more about online learning at Black Hills State University.
Find Out More About Black Hills State University
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Virginia State Parks staff under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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