Enrollment Trends for South Dakota Colleges

There are 19 active four-years colleges and universities in South Dakota - 9 public and 10 private schools. In the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 44,156 students have enrolled in four-years colleges in South Dakota including undergraduate and graduate programs. Compared to the population of 10 years ago, the the number of students decreased by 9.18% from 48,621 to 44,156. The undergraduate population decreased by 12.94% and the graduate population increased by 14.27% in last 10 years at South Dakota Colleges.

By gender, there are 24,835 female students and 19,321 male students enrolled in the schools. The female to male students ratio is 1.29 to 1. The female students decreased by 11.51% and male students decreased by 6.01% in that period.

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Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 46,409, and 44,156 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2022-2023. Of the total students, 82.63% are undergraduate students and 17.37% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 5,423, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 958.

The female to male ratio is 1.29 to 1, meaning that there are slightly more female students enrolled in South Dakota Colleges than male students.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at South Dakota Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	48,621	41,907	17,777	24,130	6,714	2,780	3,934
2013-14	47,976 -645	41,071 -836	17,678 -99	23,393 -737	6,905 191	2,932 152	3,973 39
2014-15	47,617 -359	40,541 -530	17,554 -124	22,987 -406	7,076 171	3,019 87	4,057 84
2015-16	47,578 -39	40,457 -84	17,830 276	22,627 -360	7,121 45	3,037 18	4,084 27
2016-17	47,616 38	40,190 -267	17,697 -133	22,493 -134	7,426 305	3,103 66	4,323 239
2017-18	47,328 -288	40,006 -184	17,668 -29	22,338 -155	7,322 -104	3,138 35	4,184 -139
2018-19	47,008 -320	39,404 -602	17,197 -471	22,207 -131	7,604 282	3,342 204	4,262 78
2019-20	44,838 -2,170	38,043 -1,361	16,791 -406	21,252 -955	6,795 -809	3,026 -316	3,769 -493
2020-21	43,691 -1,147	36,640 -1,403	16,035 -756	20,605 -647	7,051 256	3,059 33	3,992 223
2021-22	44,069 378	36,462 -178	15,865 -170	20,597 -8	7,607 556	3,236 177	4,371 379
2022-23	44,156 87	36,484 22	15,960 95	20,524 -73	7,672 65	3,361 125	4,311 -60
Average	46,409	39,200	17,096	22,105	7,208	3,094	4,115

South Dakota Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 39,200. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 5,423 from 41,907 to 36,484.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at South Dakota Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	41,907	26,291	12,398	13,893	15,616	5,379	10,237
2013-14	41,071	26,265	12,521	13,744	14,806	5,157	9,649
2014-15	40,541	26,077	12,312	13,765	14,464	5,242	9,222
2015-16	40,457	26,502	12,673	13,829	13,955	5,157	8,798
2016-17	40,190	26,000	12,340	13,660	14,190	5,357	8,833
2017-18	40,006	25,947	12,274	13,673	14,059	5,394	8,665
2018-19	39,404	25,590	11,964	13,626	13,814	5,233	8,581
2019-20	38,043	25,071	11,698	13,373	12,972	5,093	7,879
2020-21	36,640	24,123	11,124	12,999	12,517	4,911	7,606
2021-22	36,462	23,399	10,751	12,648	13,063	5,114	7,949
2022-23	36,484	23,299	10,777	12,522	13,185	5,183	8,002
Average	39,200	39,200	11,894	13,430	39,200	5,202	8,675

South Dakota Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 7,208. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 958 from 6,714 to 7,672.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at South Dakota Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	6,714	2,404	1,170	1,234	4,310	1,610	2,700
2013-14	6,905	2,484	1,196	1,288	4,421	1,736	2,685
2014-15	7,076	2,448	1,201	1,247	4,628	1,818	2,810
2015-16	7,121	2,569	1,228	1,341	4,552	1,809	2,743
2016-17	7,426	2,655	1,251	1,404	4,771	1,852	2,919
2017-18	7,322	2,677	1,267	1,410	4,645	1,871	2,774
2018-19	7,604	2,781	1,337	1,444	4,823	2,005	2,818
2019-20	6,795	2,540	1,211	1,329	4,255	1,815	2,440
2020-21	7,051	2,761	1,278	1,483	4,290	1,781	2,509
2021-22	7,607	2,921	1,364	1,557	4,686	1,872	2,814
2022-23	7,672	3,024	1,429	1,595	4,648	1,932	2,716
Average	7,208	7,208	1,267	1,394	7,208	1,827	2,721

South Dakota Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 76.45%. The percentage was 80.29% 10 years ago and South Dakota Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 1.49% of enrolled students is Asian and 3.23% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at South Dakota Colleges over the past 11 years (2012-2023).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2012-13	3,034	482	1,676	1,181	89	39,040	1,073
2013-14	2,776	533	1,738	1,319	94	38,426	1,108
2014-15	2,676	537	1,686	1,255	120	37,976	1,120
2015-16	2,567	547	1,594	1,402	72	37,704	1,347
2016-17	2,473	553	1,781	1,501	64	37,291	1,185
2017-18	2,461	614	1,763	1,563	45	37,021	1,229
2018-19	2,474	635	1,895	1,761	91	36,396	1,271
2019-20	2,396	603	1,503	1,649	60	34,896	1,276
2020-21	2,170	612	1,377	1,799	64	34,162	1,285
2021-22	2,639	619	1,384	1,615	62	33,965	1,283
2022-23	2,389	658	1,428	1,718	65	33,757	1,238
Average	2,550	581	1,620	1,524	75	36,421	1,220

South Dakota Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

13,296 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2022-2023, which is 30% of total students. The number of online students has increased 19.82% since 2013.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at South Dakota Colleges from 2012 to 2023.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	48,621	11,097	6,502	31,022
2013-14	47,976	9,655	7,217	31,104
2014-15	47,617	6,732	8,714	32,171
2015-16	47,578	10,296	7,964	29,318
2016-17	47,616	11,965	7,909	27,742
2017-18	47,328	11,743	8,489	27,096
2018-19	47,008	11,891	8,650	26,467
2019-20	44,838	11,492	8,521	24,825
2020-21	43,691	13,795	15,483	14,413
2021-22	44,069	14,325	10,151	19,593
2022-23	44,156	13,296	11,253	19,607
Average	46,409	11,481	9,168	25,760

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Undergraduate

Dakota Wesleyan University Private, four-years | Mitchell
Lake Area Technical College Public, 2-4 years | Watertown
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Kairos University Private, four-years | Sioux Falls
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Graduate

Dakota Wesleyan University Private, four-years | Mitchell
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Kairos University Private, four-years | Sioux Falls
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Online Schools

Dakota Wesleyan University Private, four-years | Mitchell
Lake Area Technical College Public, 2-4 years | Watertown
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Kairos University Private, four-years | Sioux Falls
Oglala Lakota College Public, four-years | Kyle
Avera Sacred Heart Hospital Private, 2-4 years | Yankton
South Dakota State University Public, four-years | Brookings
University of Sioux Falls Private, four-years | Sioux Falls
Sisseton Wahpeton College Public, four-years | Sisseton

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Technical Colleges

Dakota Wesleyan University Private, four-years | Mitchell
Lake Area Technical College Public, 2-4 years | Watertown
Mitchell Technical College Public, 2-4 years | Mitchell
National American University-Rapid City Private, four-years | Rapid City
Kairos University Private, four-years | Sioux Falls
Oglala Lakota College Public, four-years | Kyle
Avera Sacred Heart Hospital Private, 2-4 years | Yankton
South Dakota State University Public, four-years | Brookings
University of Sioux Falls Private, four-years | Sioux Falls
Sisseton Wahpeton College Public, four-years | Sisseton

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