Black Hills
State University
Public College in Spearfish, SD. Six-year graduation rate 45%. Median 10-year earnings $46,674.
Ten years after entry, the median Black Hills State University student earns $46,674 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. 45% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation is $26,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 96%, Black Hills State University takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 1,690, typical for a school of this reach. About 30% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below rest on the 6% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 465–565 | 30 (6%) |
| SAT Math | 500–570 | |
| ACT Composite | 18–24 | 317 (66%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Black Hills State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 45%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. 72% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. The part-time picture is harder: 50% return, against 72% full-time. The student-faculty ratio is 17:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,935 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $15,576 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $11,863 at $0–30k, $18,604 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 68% of students at an average of $6,412. 47% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 453 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $11,863 |
| $30–48k | $13,379 |
| $48–75k | $15,588 |
| $75–110k | $18,072 |
| $110k+ | $18,604 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 905 of these 1,935 students, totalling $5,461,823 — an average of $6,035 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lawrence County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)