by our College Data Analytics TeamNorthern State University is a public institution in Aberdeen, South Dakota enrolling 1,273 undergraduates. It accepts 93% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 49%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,479 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 29%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Northern State University ranks #1,479 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 29%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Northern State University was awarded 28 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked NSU as #1,479 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.
NSU also holds the #12 spot on the Best Colleges in South Dakota ranking.
See all of the rankings for Northern State University.
Northern State University has an acceptance rate of 93%, 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 NSU.
About 2% of students accepted to NSU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 490 and 590. Math scores were between 490 and 570.
NSU received ACT scores from 74% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 18 and 24.
Learn more about Northern State University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Northern State University is 19 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Northern State University is 95%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Northern State University has a freshmen retention rate of 77%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at NSU for first-time, full-time students is 49%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Northern State University.
During the most recent academic year, there were 1,273 undergraduates at NSU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Northern State University.
The overall average net price of NSU is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,762 | $12,087 | $15,293 | $18,372 | $17,933 |
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 price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of NSU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At NSU, approximately 22% of students took out student loans averaging $5,635 a year. That adds up to $22,540 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.2%. 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 Northern State University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Northern State University make about $47,618 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates.
See which majors at Northern State University make the most money.
Northern State University is a public institution found in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Aberdeen is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life. Get more details about the location of Northern State University.
Contact information for Northern State University can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1200 S Jay St, Aberdeen, SD 57401-7198 |
| Phone: | 6056263011 |
| Website: | www.northern.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_State_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/pages/Northern-State-University/112538332202097 |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/NorthernStateU |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 18 majors graduated from Northern State University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 434 | NA |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 40 | NA |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 38 | $39,033 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 30 | $39,862 |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 29 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 29 | $37,240 |
| Special Education | 25 | NA |
| General Biology | 22 | NA |
| Physiology & Pathology Sciences | 22 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 22 | $38,996 |
1,915 students took at least one online class at Northern State University.
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
Learn more about online learning at Northern State University.
Interested in comparing NSU? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
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.