Dakota State University Overview
Located in Madison, South Dakota, Dakota State University is a public institution. Madison is a good match for students who enjoy small-town life.
What Is Dakota State University Known For?
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at Dakota State.
- For the 2017-2018 academic year, 70% of the faculty were full-time.
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Dakota State University Rankings
We have ranked Dakota State as #428 out of 2,320 colleges and universities in the country in our 2021 Best Colleges list.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Dakota State.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Dakota State has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#2 | Best Value Colleges for Information Technology | College Factual |
#3 | Best Value Colleges for Computer & Information Sciences | College Factual |
#4 | Best Information Technology Colleges for Veterans | College Factual |
#20 | Best Computer & Information Sciences Colleges for Veterans | College Factual |
#23 | Best Value Colleges for Computer Information Systems | College Factual |
#48 | Best Teaching Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Teaching Degree Search |
Where Is Dakota State University?

Contact details for Dakota State are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 820 N Washington Ave, Madison, SD 57042-1799 |
Phone: | 605-256-5111 |
Website: | https://dsu.edu |
Twitter: | http://twitter.com/DakotaState |
How Do I Get Into Dakota State?
You can apply to Dakota State online at: https://dsu.edu/admissions/apply-now
Admission Requirements for Dakota State
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | required |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | neither required nor recommended |
Recommendations | neither required nor recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Dakota State?
Approximately 67% of accepted students are men and 33% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 86%, and the acceptance rate for women is 82%.
Average Test Scores
About 6% of students accepted to Dakota State submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 490 and 620. Math scores were between 460 and 620.
Can I Afford Dakota State University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Dakota State, approximately 74% of students took out student loans averaging $7,401 a year. That adds up to $29,604 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Dakota State is 7.4%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.
Dakota State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 389 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 1,448 full-time undergraduates at Dakota State, 69% are male and 31% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Dakota State University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 23 |
Black or African American | 29 |
Hispanic or Latino | 63 |
White | 1,240 |
International Students | 27 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 66 |
Geographic Diversity
South Dakota students aren't the only ones who study at Dakota State University. At this time, 22 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 25 countries are represented at Dakota State. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, Nepal, and Nigeria.
Online Learning at Dakota State University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Dakota State has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 3rd most popular in South Dakota for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of Dakota State
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Dakota State University was 11.1%. This is the #1,260 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Dakota State regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Dakota State majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Business Administration & Management | 50% |
Business, Management & Marketing | 21% |
Education | 22% |
Information Science | 5% |
Information Technology | 7% |
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | 12% |
Liberal Arts General Studies | 12% |
Marketing | 43% |
Mathematics & Statistics | 55% |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | 80% |
Special Education | 24% |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | 50% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Dakota State ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Dakota State.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Medical Illustration & Informatics | #15 | |
Computer Software & Applications | #23 | |
Information Science | #25 | |
Marketing | #56 | |
Information Technology | #57 | |
Instructional Media Design | #68 | |
Computer Information Systems | #81 | |
Special Education | #88 | |
Accounting | #115 | |
Health & Medical Administrative Services | #161 | |
Computer & Information Sciences | #176 | |
Liberal Arts General Studies | #209 | |
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | #209 | |
Education | #338 | |
Business Administration & Management | #410 | |
Health Professions | #440 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Dakota State University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Jlgrabinger under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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