Dakota State University
Public College in Madison, SD. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $50,970.
Ten years after entry, the median Dakota State University student earns $50,970 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 52%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $23,500, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
Dakota State University admits 88% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. 2,418 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. A 18% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 16% 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 | 570–680 | 61 (16%) |
| SAT Math | 620–760 | |
| ACT Composite | 20–27 | 254 (67%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Dakota State University →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 52%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. Retention of 75% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. The student-faculty ratio is 18:1 — typical, which in practice means large lectures early and smaller classes in the major. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,962 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $20,438 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $17,317 at $0–30k, $23,269 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 66% of students at an average of $6,257. 51% 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 · 387 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 | $17,317 |
| $30–48k | $18,792 |
| $48–75k | $19,165 |
| $75–110k | $22,601 |
| $110k+ | $23,269 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 996 of these 1,962 students, totalling $6,326,008 — an average of $6,351 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lake 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)