Top colleges in South Dakota by 10-year ROI
Executive Summary
Bachelor’s-predominant institutions located in South Dakota with at least 200 students, sorted by the same 10-year ROI estimate used nationally. South Dakota School of Mines and Technology leads this list at $234,359 (10 Yr. ROI).
Leaders: top 3
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
10 Yr. ROI
$234,359
South Dakota State University
10 Yr. ROI
$162,580
Dakota Wesleyan University
10 Yr. ROI
$159,573
Top 11 Top colleges in South Dakota by 10-year ROI
| Rank | Institution | State | Control | Enrollment | 10 Yr. ROI | Also see |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology | SD | Public | 2,071 | $234,359 | Grad 52.9% · Net $20,183 |
| 2 | South Dakota State University | SD | Public | 9,198 | $162,580 | Grad 62.4% · Net $19,841 |
| 3 | Dakota Wesleyan University | SD | Private nonprofit | 670 | $159,573 | Grad 48.3% · Net $19,735 |
| 4 | Augustana University | SD | Private nonprofit | 1,965 | $151,062 | Grad 73.0% · Net $23,894 |
| 5 | University of South Dakota | SD | Public | 5,439 | $151,052 | Grad 59.9% · Net $19,858 |
| 6 | University of Sioux Falls | SD | Private nonprofit | 1,218 | $147,424 | Grad 62.9% · Net $21,383 |
| 7 | Northern State University | SD | Public | 1,273 | $140,331 | Grad 48.9% · Net $15,812 |
| 8 | Dakota State University | SD | Public | 2,071 | $134,321 | Grad 51.3% · Net $21,057 |
| 9 | Black Hills State University | SD | Public | 1,928 | $133,632 | Grad 42.6% · Net $15,911 |
| 10 | Mount Marty University | SD | Private nonprofit | 697 | $129,038 | Grad 52.4% · Net $22,227 |
| 11 | National American University-Rapid City | SD | Private for-profit | 764 | $9,039 | Grad 0.0% · Net $31,062 |
Method notes
- Underlying institution file: EDsmart Data processed College Scorecard extract merged to the IPEDS 2024 directory for HBCU and Carnegie fields.
- Cohort applied on this page: enrollment floor of 200 undergraduates; sorted highest first on 10 Yr. ROI; all 11 qualifying campuses are shown.
- Ties on the ranked metric are broken by enrollment, then institution name, so ranks stay stable between rebuilds.
- ROI column matches the processed college_roi_rankings series in this site build; see College Scorecard ROI methodology.
- How the 10-year ROI figure is built: median earnings reported 6, 8, and 10 years after entry (years 7 and 9 linearly interpolated) are summed across years 6–10, then average annual net price × typical years enrolled (five for bachelor’s-predominant campuses) is subtracted. It is a nominal-dollar gap—not discounted to present value, and it does not subtract earnings foregone while enrolled or compare against a no-college baseline. Campuses reporting only one of the three earnings years are excluded from these tables.
- School profile links use generated slugs; not every campus has a published profile page yet—use the Scorecard site as fallback.