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Western Dakota Technical Institute Data & Information Overview

10 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
12% Student Loan Default Rate
Want the scoop on Western Dakota Technical Institute? We’ve put together a comprehensive report on the school that covers what majors Western Dakota Tech offers, how the school ranks, how diverse it is, and much more.
Want to know more about a specific stat? Just click on its tile, and you’ll go to a page that goes more in-depth on that subject. You can also use the links below to go directly to any section on this page.

How Well Is Western Dakota Technical Institute Ranked?

#1,879 Best Colleges in Nation
#13 Best Colleges in SD
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science Highest Ranked Major

2024 Rankings

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.

Western Dakota Technical Institute was awarded 10 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is clinical/medical laboratory science.

Explore Best Ranked Schools for You

Explore the best ranked schools for the programs you are most interested in.

Overall Quality

Western Dakota Tech landed the #1,879 spot in College Factual's 2024 ranking of best overall colleges in the United States. The higher ed experts analyzed 2,217 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking.

Western Dakota Tech is also ranked #13 out of 13 schools in South Dakota.

See all of the rankings for Western Dakota Technical Institute.

Is It Hard to Get Into Western Dakota Tech?

Open Admissions Policy

Acceptance Rate

Since Western Dakota Technical Institute has an open admissions policy, being accepted to the school isn't that hard. However, a full basic things - such as a high school diploma or equivalent - may be required. Also, go over your application to make sure it is complete before you submit it.

Learn more about Western Dakota Technical Institute admissions.

Western Dakota Technical Institute Faculty

13 to 1 Student to Faculty
51% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Western Dakota Technical Institute is about average at 13 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Western Dakota Technical Institute is 51%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  51 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at Western Dakota Technical Institute

67% Freshmen Retention

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 Western Dakota Technical Institute is 67%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.

Freshmen Retention Rate  67 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Western Dakota Technical Institute.

Western Dakota Technical Institute Undergraduate Student Diversity

584 Full-Time Undergraduates
22.4% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
51.5% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 1,324 undergraduates at Western Dakota Tech with 584 being full-time and 740 being part-time.

How Much Does Western Dakota Technical Institute Cost?

$15,434 Net Price
65% Take Out Loans
$28,212 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of Western Dakota Tech is $15,434. 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 Western Dakota Tech

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$12,732 $13,631 $16,859 $18,299 $19,603

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 Western Dakota Tech, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

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 Western Dakota Tech, approximately 65% of students took out student loans averaging $7,053 a year. That adds up to $28,212 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Western Dakota Tech is 12.0%. This is higher than the national default rate of 10.1% so you should proceed with caution when taking out student loans.

Get more details about paying for Western Dakota Technical Institute.

How Much Money Do Western Dakota Tech Graduates Make?

$34,992 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from Western Dakota Tech make about $34,992 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. Unfortunately, this is 18% less that the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year. However, graduates in your major field may make more.

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See which majors at Western Dakota Technical Institute make the most money.

Location of Western Dakota Technical Institute

South Dakota State
584 Full-Time Undergraduates
Rural Campus Setting
Western Dakota Technical Institute is a public institution situated in Rapid City, South Dakota. The rural area surrounding the school is great for students who prefer living in a country setting.

Get more details about the location of Western Dakota Technical Institute.

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Contact details for Western Dakota Tech are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 800 Mickelson Dr, Rapid City, SD 57703-4018
Phone: 605-718-2400
Website: https://www.wdt.edu/

Western Dakota Technical Institute Majors

19 Majors With Completions
241 Undergraduate Degrees
Learn more about the majors offered at Western Dakota Technical Institute along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at Western Dakota Tech

47% Take At Least One Class Online
21% Take All Classes Online

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.

In 2020-2021, 609 students took at least one online class at Western Dakota Technical Institute. This is an increase from the 572 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2020-2021 609 268
2019-2020 572 276
2018-2019 500 226
2017-2018 322 184
2016-2017 357 192

Learn more about online learning at Western Dakota Technical Institute.

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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