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Dakota State University Data & Information Overview

165 awards Ranking Badges
Great Price Value for Your Money
86% Acceptance Rate
Want the scoop on Dakota State University? We’ve put together a comprehensive report on the school that covers what majors Dakota State offers, how the school ranks, how diverse it is, and much more.
All you need to do to learn more about a stat is click on its tile, and you’ll be taken to another page that analyzes that data more closely. Also, you can use the links below to scroll to any section of this page.

How Well Is Dakota State University Ranked?

#466 Best Colleges in Nation
#6 Best Colleges in SD
Health & Medical Administrative Services Highest Ranked Major
Value Badge

2024 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.

Dakota State University was awarded 165 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is health & medical administrative services.

Explore Best Ranked Schools for You

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Overall Quality

Dakota State is ranked #466 out of 2,217 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2024 Best Colleges list. This is an improvement over the previous year, when Dakota State held the #505 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.

Out of the 13 colleges in South Dakota, Dakota State is ranked at #6.

See all of the rankings for Dakota State University.

Is It Hard to Get Into Dakota State?

86% Acceptance Rate
32% Of Accepted Are Women
11% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

Dakota State University has an acceptance rate of 86%, so it is easier to gain admission to this school than some others. Still, the admissions staff will examine your application closely to make sure you're a good fit for Dakota State.

Average Test Scores

About 11% of students accepted to Dakota State submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 505 and 635. Math scores were between 495 and 610.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Dakota State University  ( 505 to 635 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for Dakota State University  ( 495 to 610 )
200
800
Dakota State received ACT scores from 80% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 19 and 26.

ACT Composite Scores for Dakota State University  ( 19 to 26 )
1
36

Learn more about Dakota State University admissions.

Dakota State University Faculty

18 to 1 Student to Faculty
78% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

With a student to faculty ratio of 18 to 1, Dakota State University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it's a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.

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 Dakota State University is 78%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  78 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at Dakota State University

72% Freshmen Retention
29% On-Time Graduation Rate

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 Dakota State University is 72%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.

Freshmen Retention Rate  72 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

When it comes to finishing their studies on time, those seeking a bachelor's degree from Dakota State have a four-year graduation rate of 29%. This is comparable to the national average of 33.3%

On-Time Graduation Rate  29 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Dakota State University.

Dakota State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

1,495 Full-Time Undergraduates
13.9% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
29.5% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 2,740 undergraduates at Dakota State with 1,495 being full-time and 1,245 being part-time.

How Much Does Dakota State University Cost?

$18,630 Net Price
60% Take Out Loans
$26,036 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of Dakota State is $18,630. 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 Dakota State

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$15,329 $16,720 $18,429 $20,740 $20,186

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 Dakota State, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Dakota State, approximately 60% of students took out student loans averaging $6,509 a year. That adds up to $26,036 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Dakota State is 5.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Get more details about paying for Dakota State University.

How Much Money Do Dakota State Graduates Make?

$44,019 Avg Salary of Grads
Average Earnings Boost
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from Dakota State make about $44,019 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That's great news for Dakota State students since it is 4% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at Dakota State University make the most money.

Location of Dakota State University

South Dakota State
1,495 Full-Time Undergraduates
Town Campus Setting
Dakota State University is a public institution situated in Madison, South Dakota. The location of Dakota State is a good match for students who are interested in living in a college town while they pursue their degree.

Get more details about the location of Dakota State University.

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Contact details for Dakota State are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 820 N Washington Ave, Madison, SD 57042-1799
Phone: 605-256-5111
Website: https://dsu.edu/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DakotaState

Dakota State University Majors

23 Majors With Completions
413 Undergraduate Degrees
144 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 23 majors graduated from Dakota State University. Of these students, 413 received undergraduate degrees and 144 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
Information Technology 114 $49,983
Computer Information Systems 69 $50,973
Computer Software & Applications 36 $25,986
Information Science 21 $42,967
Teacher Education Grade Specific 18 NA
Special Education 16 $38,694
Health & Physical Education 14 NA
Statistics 14 NA
Business Administration & Management 14 $37,841
Liberal Arts General Studies 14 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Dakota State University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at Dakota State

75% Take At Least One Class Online
55% Take All Classes Online

Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.

In 2020-2021, 2,422 students took at least one online class at Dakota State University. This is a decrease from the 2,440 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2020-2021 2,422 1,775
2019-2020 2,440 1,756
2018-2019 2,206 1,704
2017-2018 2,191 1,577
2016-2017 1,973 1,433

Learn more about online learning at Dakota State University.

If you’re considering Dakota State University, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.

Curious on how these schools stack up against Dakota State? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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