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2024 Best Schools for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota for Associate Degrees

10 Colleges
$14,625 Avg Net Price (With Aid)*
16% Discount Rate*

With all of the options you have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take when you want to pursue a degree. At College Factual, we're committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota ranking. You may be surprised that some normally high-priced schools offer very generous financial aid packages to those who qualify.

In This Year's Value Report:

Finding Your Best College Match

After analyzing 10 schools in South Dakota, we came up with our list of those that offered the best value Associate Degree programs. Our ranking methodology focuses on different objective factors to make this determination of the best value schools. We explain more about what we look at and why we do so below.

Our Methodology

To calculate the value of a school in our Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota ranking, we first consider its average net price, which is the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that that the student receives. In addition, the overall quality of a school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how much it costs.

To make it into this list a school must offer a quality education like the schools in our Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considers factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

We go into more detail on these factors on our best value ranking methodology page.

More Rankings to View

You can scroll down to see the top schools for this ranking, but you may also want to view some of the other ranking methods listed below.

Without Aid Best Value Associate Degrees
With Aid (Income $0-$30k) Best Value Associate Degrees
With Aid (Income $30-$48k) Best Value Associate Degrees
With Aid (Income $48-$75k) Best Value Associate Degrees
With Aid (Income $75-$110k) Best Value Associate Degrees
With Aid (Income Over $110k) Best Value Associate Degrees
To get a better picture of the best value schools for your income range or for whether or not you'll receive aid, click on one of the tiles above. You may also want to narrow this list by location to find the best value schools nearest you. In addition, we've put together a number of other college rankings that may help you in your search.

Know what field you want to major in? Make sure you check out our best value schools by major. In addition, you can select one of the links below to see the best value colleges for other degree levels.

Best Value Associate Degree Schools (With Aid) in South Dakota

Learn more about these excellent schools below:

1
LATI crest
Lake Area Technical Institute
Watertown, South Dakota

Lake Area Technical Institute tops this year’s ranking as the best value (with aid) school for associate degrees in South Dakota for overall quality. LATI is located in Watertown, South Dakota and has a small student population. It is a public school.

In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Lake Area Technical Institute is ranked #2 for quality in the state of South Dakota. For those students who receive financial aid, the yearly average net price of the school is around $13,069.

Full Lake Area Technical Institute Value Report

2
Mitchell Tech crest
Mitchell Technical College
Mitchell, South Dakota

Out of the 10 associate degree schools in South Dakota that were part of this year’s ranking, Mitchell Technical College landed the #2 spot on the list. Mitchell Tech is a public institution located in Mitchell, South Dakota.

In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Mitchell Technical College is ranked #3 for quality in the state of South Dakota. For those students who receive financial aid, the yearly average net price of the school is around $12,190.

Full Mitchell Technical College Value Report

3
Oglala Lakota College crest
Oglala Lakota College
Kyle, South Dakota

A rank of #3 on our Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota list means Oglala Lakota College is a great place for students working on their degree. This small public school is located in Kyle, South Dakota.

In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Oglala Lakota College is ranked #10 for quality in the state of South Dakota. For those students who receive financial aid, the yearly average net price of the school is around $3,774.

Learn More About Value at Oglala Lakota College

4
South Dakota State crest
South Dakota State University
Brookings, South Dakota

The quality degree programs at South Dakota State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota. South Dakota State University is a fairly large public school located in Brookings, South Dakota.

South Dakota State University has the honor of being ranked #1 in South Dakota for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average net price of the school for those who receive financial aid is about $17,859 a year.

Learn More About Value at South Dakota State University

5
Southeast Tech crest
Southeast Technical College
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southeast Technical College. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota list. Located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the school is a small public institution.

Not only is Southeast Technical College a great value, but it is also ranked #5 in South Dakota for overall quality. For those students who receive financial aid, the yearly average net price of the school is around $15,186.

Full Southeast Technical College Value Report

6
Dakota State crest
Dakota State University
Madison, South Dakota

Dakota State University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota list. Madison, South Dakota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. It is a public school.

In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Dakota State University is ranked #4 for quality in the state of South Dakota. The average net price of the school for those who receive financial aid is about $17,572 a year.

Full Dakota State University Value Report

7

National American University - Rapid City landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota ranking. National American University - Rapid City is a private for-profit institution located in Rapid City, South Dakota.

National American University - Rapid City has the honor of being ranked #7 in South Dakota for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average net price of the school for those who receive financial aid is about $15,438 a year.

Learn More About Value at National American University - Rapid City

8
Western Dakota Tech crest
Western Dakota Technical Institute
Rapid City, South Dakota

Western Dakota Technical Institute landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota ranking. This small public school is located in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Western Dakota Technical Institute has the honor of being ranked #9 in South Dakota for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average net price of the school for those who receive financial aid is about $13,934 a year.

Full Western Dakota Technical Institute Value Report

9
BHSU crest
Black Hills State University
Spearfish, South Dakota

Black Hills State University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota list. Black Hills State University is a small public school located in Spearfish, South Dakota.

Black Hills State University has the honor of being ranked #8 in South Dakota for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average net price of the school for those who receive financial aid is about $15,895 a year.

Full Black Hills State University Value Report

10
University of Sioux Falls crest
University of Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

University of Sioux Falls landed the #10 spot on the 2024 Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (With Aid) in South Dakota ranking. University of Sioux Falls is a private not-for-profit institution located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

University of Sioux Falls has the honor of being ranked #6 in South Dakota for overall quality on top of being a good value. For those students who receive financial aid, the yearly average net price of the school is around $21,333.

Learn More About Value at University of Sioux Falls

Best Value Associate Degree Schools (With Aid) in the Plains States Region

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Notes and References

Footnotes

*These averages are for the top 10 schools only.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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