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Best Value Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota

2023 Best Value Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

4 Colleges
$9,590 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$32,705 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 154 degrees and certificates were awarded to homeland security, law enforcement and firefighting students who went to a South Dakota college or university. This makes it the #18 most popular major in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota ranking. Our analysis looked at 4 schools in South Dakota to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for homeland security, law enforcement and firefighting students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

Best South Dakota Schools for Affordable Quality for an Associate in Law Enforcement & Firefighting

Our analysis found Lake Area Technical Institute to be the best value school for homeland security, law enforcement and firefighting students who want to pursue a associate degree in South Dakota. LATI is a small public school located in the remote town of Watertown.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at LATI are $6,718 a year.

LATI did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota list.

Full Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting at Lake Area Technical Institute Report

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#2

Southeast Technical College

Sioux Falls, SD

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southeast Technical College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota list. Southeast Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Sioux Falls.

Southeast Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $7,650 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Southeast Tech did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota list.

Read full report on Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting at Southeast Technical College

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Out of the 4 schools in South Dakota that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Dakota Technical Institute landed the # 3 spot on the list. Western Dakota Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Rapid City.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Western Dakota Tech are $8,332 a year.

Full Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting at Western Dakota Technical Institute Report

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Best Value Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Value Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 722
Minnesota 1,643
Iowa 883
Missouri 1,500
Nebraska 729
North Dakota 271

Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice & Corrections 113,121
Fire Protection 13,766
Homeland Security 7,140
Security Science and Technology 6,888
Other Homeland Security 1,695

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Administration & Social Service 98,583
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 73,813
Legal Professions 61,055
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 4,477

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 4 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 Barry Bahler.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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