Dakota State University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Dakota State University

Dakota State University operates as a public institution located in Madison, South Dakota (town: distant), with a total reported enrollment of 2,071 students of which 4,186 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Dakota State University is categorized as “19” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 88.0%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,215 and an ACT midpoint of 23. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $21,057, with published in-state tuition of $9,654 and a Pell grant recipient share of 16.8%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $23,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 50.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 75.5%. Graduates earn a median of $50,970 ten years after enrolling, compared with $46,146 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 115300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 71.0% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.