2022 Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota” ranking.

Nursing is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 3rd of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 313,362 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2017-2018, nursing graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $67,065 and had an average of $26,282 in loans still to pay off.

Across South Dakota, there were 1,106 nursing graduates with average earnings and debt of $61,771 and $33,828 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 96 nursing graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in nursing. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent nursing programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the nursing program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota

The colleges and universities below are the best for south dakota associate degree nursing students.

Top 4 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Nursing in South Dakota

#1

Lake Area Technical Institute

Watertown, South Dakota

#1 in overall quality

$12,939 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Lake Area Technical Institute. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota. Lake Area Technical Institute is a small school located in Watertown, South Dakota that handed out 22 associates’s nursing degrees in 2019-2020.

LATI not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota” list. The yearly cost to attend Lake Area Technical Institute is $12,939 for south dakota associate degree nursing students.

Read more about Nursing at Lake Area Technical Institute

#2

Southeast Technical College

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$14,633 Average Net Price

$54,810 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southeast Technical College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota. This small school is located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and it awarded 51 associates’s nursing degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Southeast Tech, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Southeast Technical College is $14,633 for south dakota associate degree nursing students.

Read full report on Nursing at Southeast Tech

#3

Oglala Lakota College

Kyle, South Dakota

#4 in overall quality

$-375 Average Net Price

$55,693 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Oglala Lakota College. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota. Kyle, South Dakota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s nursing degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Oglala Lakota College, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. It costs about $-375 for south dakota associate degree nursing students per year to attend Oglala Lakota College. A negative average net price may seem strange, but it generally means that financial aid will more than cover the cost to attend the school.

Full Oglala Lakota College Nursing Report

#4

Western Dakota Technical Institute

Rapid City, South Dakota

#3 in overall quality

$14,388 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Dakota Technical Institute. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Nursing Schools for an Associate in South Dakota. Western Dakota Technical Institute is located in Rapid City, South Dakota and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 14 associates’s nursing degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our south dakota associate degree nursing students list, Western Dakota Tech has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. It costs about $14,388 for South Dakota Associate Degree Nursing students per year to attend Western Dakota Tech.

Read more about Nursing at Western Dakota Technical Institute

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Nursing in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Nursing

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.

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