Dakota Wesleyan University
Private College in Mitchell, SD. Six-year graduation rate 48%. Median 10-year earnings $53,728.
Ten years after entry, the median Dakota Wesleyan University student earns $53,728 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 48%, meaning about one in two students who start do not finish. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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 Wesleyan University accepts 73% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. The applicant pool is small at 1,247, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. About 21% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Dakota Wesleyan University →Academics
Completion is middling: 48% finish inside six years. Retention of 75% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. Transfer-out runs to 22% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 661 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $22,990 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price varies modestly by income — $15,251 at $0–30k against $22,416 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid is widespread — 92% of students receive it, averaging $19,498. 84% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 184 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 | $15,251 |
| $30–48k | $15,750 |
| $48–75k | $15,927 |
| $75–110k | $19,048 |
| $110k+ | $22,416 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 558 of these 661 students, totalling $3,494,849 — an average of $6,263 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Davison 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)