2023 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in South Dakota

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in South Dakota” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2020-2021, 50,306 people earned their degree in physical sciences, making the major the 19th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, physical sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $39,880 and had an average of $22,620 in loans still to pay off.

Across South Dakota, there were 144 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $28,906 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 33 physical sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,795 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in South Dakota” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in physical sciences. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their physical sciences program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The physical sciences school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in South Dakota”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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.

Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in South Dakota

The colleges and universities below are the best for south dakota master’s degree physical sciences students.

Top 3 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in South Dakota

1

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Rapid City, South Dakota

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in South Dakota that were part of this year’s ranking, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. SD Mines is located in Rapid City, South Dakota and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 masters’s physical sciences degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full SD Mines Physical Sciences Report

2

University of South Dakota
Vermillion, South Dakota

#5 overall quality in South Dakota

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in South Dakota that were part of this year’s ranking, University of South Dakota landed the #2 spot on the list. Vermillion, South Dakota is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s physical sciences degrees to 14 students in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Physical Sciences at University of South Dakota

3

South Dakota State University
Brookings, South Dakota

#1 overall quality in South Dakota

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Dakota State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Physical Sciences Major in South Dakota list. South Dakota State University is a public institution located in Brookings, South Dakota. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 13 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full South Dakota State Physical Sciences Report

• Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences in the Plains States Region
• Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Physical Sciences

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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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 NASA.