by our College Data Analytics Team
If you’re seeking a diverse and multi-faceted college experience, you’ve come to the right place. This list highlights 20 institutions ranked on geographic diversity in South Dakota, using our 2026 methodology.
This ranking is based on the geographic origins of the student body (how widely students are drawn from across the country and the world). To help you decide, College Factual evaluated 20 colleges, drawing primarily on U.S. Department of Education data (IPEDS and College Scorecard). Learn more about our ranking methodology.
Not every student measures diversity the same way. Refine the list by location, or explore the overall, racial-ethnic, gender, economic, and age diversity rankings, or other rankings below.
Want to compare schools head to head? We built a tool called College Combat to build custom comparisons using the factors most important to you.
Explore the leading colleges below:
Our analysis found California Intercontinental University to be the most geographically diverse college in South Dakota. On geographic diversity, it scores 47.7 out of 100. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 76.7, with a gender-diversity score of 99.5.
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology earned the #2 place in South Dakota. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology scores 46.0 out of 100 for geographic diversity. On racial-ethnic diversity it scores 43.6, with a gender-diversity score of 83.4.
Out of the 20 colleges in South Dakota in this year's ranking, Mount Marty University landed the #3 spot. It scores 38.5 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Racial-ethnic diversity scores 45.4, with a gender-diversity score of 99.8.
A rank of #4 makes Dakota Wesleyan University one of the most geographically diverse colleges in South Dakota. It scores 36.1 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Racial-ethnic diversity scores 33.9, and gender diversity 98.7.
A rank of #5 makes University of South Dakota one of the most geographically diverse colleges in South Dakota. University of South Dakota scores 35.0 out of 100 for geographic diversity. On racial-ethnic diversity it scores 42.5, with a gender-diversity score of 94.8.
University of Sioux Falls landed the #6 spot in South Dakota this year. University of Sioux Falls scores 34.4 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 40.6, alongside a 98.0 gender-diversity score.
Black Hills State University earned the #7 position in South Dakota. The school's geographic diversity score is 33.9 out of 100. On racial-ethnic diversity it scores 45.1, and gender diversity 94.5.
South Dakota State University landed the #8 spot in South Dakota this year. South Dakota State University scores 33.4 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 36.9, and gender diversity 98.5.
Augustana University ranked #9 on our 2026 list of the most geographically diverse colleges. On geographic diversity, it scores 32.7 out of 100. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 54.6, and gender diversity 96.0.
Dakota State University earned the #10 position in South Dakota. It scores 32.6 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 41.9, with a gender-diversity score of 99.7.
Northern State University ranked #11 on our 2026 list of the most geographically diverse colleges. The school's geographic diversity score is 25.3 out of 100. Racial-ethnic diversity scores 31.2, alongside a 95.0 gender-diversity score.
Lake Area Technical College placed #12 among the most geographically diverse colleges in South Dakota. Lake Area Technical College scores 14.8 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 21.9, with a gender-diversity score of 99.8.
Southeast Technical College landed the #13 spot in South Dakota this year. The school's geographic diversity score is 14.2 out of 100. On racial-ethnic diversity it scores 42.5, and gender diversity 98.6.
Mitchell Technical College landed the #14 spot in South Dakota this year. It scores 13.7 out of 100 for geographic diversity. On racial-ethnic diversity it scores 25.6, and gender diversity 94.2.
Western Dakota Technical College placed #15 among the most geographically diverse colleges in South Dakota. It scores 11.7 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 41.0, alongside a 99.1 gender-diversity score.
Stewart School placed #16 among the most geographically diverse colleges in South Dakota. It scores 11.1 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Racial-ethnic diversity scores 42.6, with a gender-diversity score of 7.6.
Black Hills Beauty College came in at #17 in this year's ranking. It scores 10.9 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Racial-ethnic diversity scores 45.0, and gender diversity 13.7.
Sisseton Wahpeton College landed the #18 spot in South Dakota this year. Sisseton Wahpeton College scores 7.9 out of 100 for geographic diversity. On racial-ethnic diversity it scores 26.9, with a gender-diversity score of 93.3.
Sinte Gleska University placed #19 among the most geographically diverse colleges in South Dakota. It scores 4.8 out of 100 for geographic diversity. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 22.0, with a gender-diversity score of 79.5.
Oglala Lakota College placed #20 among the most geographically diverse colleges in South Dakota. On geographic diversity, it scores 0.8 out of 100. Its racial-ethnic diversity score is 11.8, with a gender-diversity score of 87.6.
*These averages are for the top 25 ranked colleges only.
We measure this ranking on the geographic origins of the student body (how widely students are drawn from across the country and the world). The racial-ethnic minorities percentage is calculated by taking the total number of students, subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity is unknown, and dividing by total enrollment.
These rankings are produced by College Factual, 2026 edition.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.
