South Dakota State University Student Population

How many students at South Dakota State?

For the academic year 2024-2025, South Dakota State University has a total enrollment of 12,056 students, including 10,719 undergraduate and 1,337 graduate students.

• Gender Breakdown: 5,309 male students (44%) and 6,747 female students (56%) are attending .
• Race and Ethnicity Breakdown: The two largest race/ethnicity groups are 9,749 White students (80.9%) and 358 Hispanic students (3%).
• Class Level Breakdown: 10,719 undergraduate students (88.9%) and 1,337 graduate students (11.1%).
• Class Delivery: 2,300 students are enrolled online exclusively, while 4,028 students take a hybrid mix of online and on-campus courses.

Compared to similar public Research University (high research activity) - which average 16,875 - South Dakota State's body is smaller.

Explore complete student demographics below, including gender ratio, race and ethnicity, age distribution, and distance learning statistics.

Enrollment by Gender and Class Level

By gender, 5,309 male (44.04%) and 6,747 female (55.96%) students are attending South Dakota State University. The number of male students per 100 females students (male-to-female ratio) is 78.69.

By class level, 10,719 (88.91%) are undergraduate students and 1,337 (11.09%) are graduate students. Among undergraduates, 44.30% are male and 55.70% are female, while among graduate students, 41.96% are male and 58.04% are female.

• Enrollment Trends

Student Distribution by Race/Ethnicity

By race/ethnicity, 9,749 White, 157 Black, and 158 Asian students out of a total of 12,056 are attending at South Dakota State University. Comprehensive enrollment statistic data by race/ethnicity is shown in the chart below (academic year 2024-2025 data).

South Dakota State University is somewhat diverse with a diversity index of 34.3% measured by Census Bureau Diversity Index. The institution has limited racial and ethnic diversity in its student population.

• Total
• Undergraduate
• Graduate

Student Age Distribution

By age, South Dakota State has 946 students under 18 years old and 4 students over 65 years old. There are 10,055 students under 25 years old, and 1,442 students over 25 years old out of 11,498 total students.

In undergraduate programs, 946 students are younger than 18 and 2 students are older than 65. South Dakota State has 9,549 undergraduate students aged under 25 and 627 students aged 25 and over.

It has 506 graduate students aged under 25 and 815 students aged 25 and over.

*The age distribution is based on 2023-2024 enrollment data.

• Total
• Undergraduate
• Graduate

Online Student Enrollment

Distance learning, also called online education, is very attractive to students, especially those who want to continue education and work in the field. At South Dakota State University, 2,300 students are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 4,028 students are enrolled in some online courses.

1,977 students who live in South Dakota or the jurisdiction in which the school is located are enrolled exclusively in online courses and 323 students live in another State or outside of the United States.

• Online Population
• By Locality

Transfer-in Students (Undergraduate)

Among 10,719 enrolled in undergraduate programs, 438 students have transferred-in from other institutions. The percentage of transfer-in students is 4.09%.323 students have transferred in as full-time status and 115 students transferred in as part-time status.