Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in South Dakota

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in South Dakota

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

6 Colleges
$8,361 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,367 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, education students earned 1,045 degrees and certificates from a South Dakota school, making the subject the 3rd in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

The Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in South Dakota ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 6 schools in South Dakota to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for education students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in South Dakota

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Education Master's Degree Colleges.

Best South Dakota Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in Education

Our analysis found Northern State University to be the best value school for education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in South Dakota. NSU is a small public school located in the town of Aberdeen.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NSU are $6,736 per year.

NSU also took the #3 spot in our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in South Dakota rankings.

Read full report on Education at Northern State University

#2

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD

Out of the 6 schools in South Dakota that were part of this year’s ranking, University of South Dakota landed the # 2 spot on the list. USD is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Vermillion.

USD graduate students pay an average of $7,118 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

USD also took the #5 spot in our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in South Dakota rankings.

Read More…

#3

University of Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls, SD

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Sioux Falls helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in South Dakota. University of Sioux Falls is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Sioux Falls.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Sioux Falls are $7,110 per year.

Read full report on Education at University of Sioux Falls

The excellent master’s degree programs at South Dakota State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in South Dakota. Located in the town of Brookings, South Dakota State is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at South Dakota State are $9,384 a year.

South Dakota State did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in South Dakota list.

Full Education at South Dakota State University Report

#5

Mount Marty University

Yankton, SD

Out of the 6 schools in South Dakota that were part of this year’s ranking, Mount Marty University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the remote town of Yankton, Mount Marty is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mount Marty are $9,650 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Mount Marty is ranked #1 for overall quality for education in South Dakota.

Read full report on Education at Mount Marty University

With a ranking of #6, Black Hills State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. BHSU is a small public school located in the distant town of Spearfish.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at BHSU are $8,916 a year.

Full Education at Black Hills State University Report

Best Value Education Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Education Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 4,776
Minnesota 9,682
Iowa 3,392
Missouri 7,906
Nebraska 4,167
North Dakota 1,291

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
General Education 29,810
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832
Student Counseling 13,858
Instructional Media Design 8,695
Teaching English or French 5,791
Other Education 4,858
Teaching Assistants 2,751
Educational Assessment 2,552
Multilingual Education 1,910
Education Philosophy 737
International Education 293

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Sciences 205,984
Psychology 195,678
Communication & Journalism 120,571
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 55,820
History 32,731

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 6 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.