2020’s Best South Dakota Colleges and Universities

Those statistics whiz-kids at WalletHub are reminding college-bound students and their parents that the "early decision" college application deadline is November 1. They also realize that with tuition costs continually on the rise, you want to know that you're making a sound investment in your child's education.

With this in mind, WalletHub compared over 1,000 higher-education institutions in the U.S. to give parents and students some idea of quality vs. cost.

They analyzed these schools in numerous categories like:

• Admission rates
• Student-faculty ratios
• Graduation rates
• Campus safety
• Student-loan debt rates
• Highest & lowest return on investment rates
• Post attendance salaries
• Gender & racial diversity
• Campus housing

When all the number-crunching was complete, they put this information together for our state.

Top 8 Colleges & Universities in South Dakota

1. Augustana University
2. Dakota State University
3. Dakota Wesleyan University
4. University of Sioux Falls
5. Northern State University
6. South Dakota State University
7. University of South Dakota
8. Black Hills State University

They also provided a closer look at some of the top schools and how each performed in certain metrics:

School Snapshot: Augustana University (1 = Best)

• 1^st – Admission Rate
• 1^st – Student-Faculty Ratio
• 4^th – Gender & Racial Diversity
• 1^st – Graduation Rate
• 2^nd – Post-Attendance Median Salary

School Snapshot: Dakota State University (1 = Best)

• 3^rd – Admission Rate
• 3^rd – Net Cost
• 3^rd – On-Campus Crime
• 5^th – Post-Attendance Median Salary

School Snapshot: Dakota Wesleyan University (1 = Best)

• 2^nd – Admission Rate
• 1^st – Student-Faculty Ratio
• 2^nd – On-Campus Crime
• 2^nd – Graduation Rate
• 6^th – Post-Attendance Median Salary

To see the complete report, go to WalletHub.

Source: WalletHub