Enrollment Trends for South Dakota Colleges

South Dakota Colleges Enrollment Trends Summary (2015-2025)

Overall Population Change:
- Total Enrollment: 46,223 students were enrolled in South Dakota colleges.
- 10-Year Change: The total student population decreased by -3% compared to a decade ago.
Student Level Trends:
- Undergraduate Growth: Undergraduate enrollment saw a decrease of -6.93% compared to a decade ago.
- Graduate Growth: Graduate enrollment saw a increase of 19.98% compared to a decade ago.
Gender Dynamics:
- Current Ratio: There are more female students than male, with a ratio of 1.25 female to 1 male.
- Women Enrollment: Female students total 25,652 and have decreased by -5.15% compared to a decade ago.
- Men Enrollment: Male students total 20,571 and have decreased by -0.01% compared to a decade ago.
Online Education Growth:
- Online Exclusively: 14,681 students (31.76%) are enrolled exclusively in online programs.
- Online Growth: The number of students enrolled completely online has seen a dramatic increase of 118% since 2015.

Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 45,874, and 46,223 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2024-2025.

Of the total students, 80.87% are undergraduate students and 19.13% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students decreased by 2,657, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 1,886.

The females per 100 male students ratio is 80.55, meaning that there are far more female students enrolled in South Dakota Colleges than male students. You can check the males per 100 female students ratio trends over the years for South Dakota colleges.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at South Dakota Colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2014-15	47,617	40,541	17,554	22,987	7,076	3,019	4,057
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
2023-24	44,487 331	36,487 3	16,000 40	20,487 -37	8,000 328	3,761 400	4,239 -72
2024-25	46,223 1,736	37,733 1,246	16,633 633	21,100 613	8,490 490	3,938 177	4,552 313
Average	45,874	38,404	16,839	21,565	7,469	3,275	4,195

South Dakota Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 38,404. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students decreased by 2,808 from 40,541 to 37,733.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at South Dakota Colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
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
2023-24	36,487	23,350	10,686	12,664	13,137	5,314	7,823
2024-25	37,733	24,237	11,130	13,107	13,496	5,503	7,993
Average	38,404	38,404	11,612	13,261	38,404	5,227	8,305

South Dakota Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 7,469. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 1,414 from 7,076 to 8,490.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at South Dakota Colleges since 2015.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Female	Total	Men	Female
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
2023-24	8,000	3,254	1,580	1,674	4,746	2,181	2,565
2024-25	8,490	3,462	1,657	1,805	5,028	2,281	2,747
Average	7,469	7,469	1,346	1,481	7,469	1,929	2,714

South Dakota Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 72.18%. The percentage was 79.75% 10 years ago and South Dakota Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 1.60% of enrolled students is Asian and 3.31% 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 (2014-2025).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	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
2023-24	2,599	683	1,459	1,871	61	33,386	1,103
2024-25	2,501	751	1,551	2,011	83	33,814	1,161
Average	2,486	619	1,584	1,650	72	35,488	1,227

South Dakota Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

14,681 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2024-2025, which is 31% of total students. The number of online students has increased 32.30% 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 2025.

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
2023-24	44,487	13,573	11,857	19,057
2024-25	46,223	14,681	13,498	18,044
Average	46,247	11,888	9,708	24,651

Most Searched South Dakota Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

National American University-Ellsworth Private, 4-year | Box Elder
University of South Dakota Public, 4-year | Vermillion
South Dakota State University Public, 4-year | Brookings
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Public, 4-year | Rapid City
Dakota State University Public, 4-year | Madison
Presentation College Private, 4-year | Aberdeen
Augustana University Private, 4-year | Sioux Falls
Northern State University Public, 4-year | Aberdeen
California Intercontinental University Private, 4-year | Sioux Falls
University of Sioux Falls Private, 4-year | Sioux Falls

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Graduate

Dakota State University Public, 4-year | Madison
South Dakota State University Public, 4-year | Brookings
Northern State University Public, 4-year | Aberdeen
Kairos University Private, 4-year | Sioux Falls
Institute of Lutheran Theology Private, 4-year | Brookings
University of South Dakota Public, 4-year | Vermillion
Western Dakota Technical College Public, 2-4 year | Rapid City
National American University-Rapid City Private, 4-year | Rapid City
Sinte Gleska University Public, 4-year | Mission
National American University-Harold D. Buckingham Graduate School Private, 4-year | Rapid City

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Online Schools

Dakota State University Public, 4-year | Madison
Mount Marty University Private, 4-year | Yankton
South Dakota State University Public, 4-year | Brookings
Western Dakota Technical College Public, 2-4 year | Rapid City
National American University-Rapid City Private, 4-year | Rapid City
Sinte Gleska University Public, 4-year | Mission
National American University-Harold D. Buckingham Graduate School Private, 4-year | Rapid City
Kairos University Private, 4-year | Sioux Falls
Paul Mitchell the School-Rapid City Private, Less than 2-year | Rapid City
Sanford Medical Center Private, 2-4 year | Sioux Falls

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Trade Schools

Stewart School Private, Less than 2-year | Sioux Falls
Dakota State University Public, 4-year | Madison
Mitchell Technical College Public, 2-4 year | Mitchell
Western Dakota Technical College Public, 2-4 year | Rapid City
National American University-Rapid City Private, 4-year | Rapid City
Sinte Gleska University Public, 4-year | Mission
National American University-Harold D. Buckingham Graduate School Private, 4-year | Rapid City
Kairos University Private, 4-year | Sioux Falls
Paul Mitchell the School-Rapid City Private, Less than 2-year | Rapid City
Sanford Medical Center Private, 2-4 year | Sioux Falls

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