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University of South Dakota Offers In-State Tuition to Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming

  • 12/07/18

VERMILLION, SD – New students from Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming will soon have the opportunity to experience the South Dakota Advantage, a tuition program that South Dakota state public universities will offer, starting next summer, to new freshmen and new transfer students from a total of six surrounding states.

The South Dakota Advantage tuition program offers new freshmen and transfer students from Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and Colorado a tuition rate equivalent to the resident undergraduate rate set at each South Dakota public university. Students from Nebraska and Iowa already receive in-state tuition rates for South Dakota public universities. Minnesota is not part of the new program since the state of South Dakota has a long-standing tuition reciprocity agreement with Minnesota.

“Our goal is to grow enrollments, meet South Dakota’s workforce needs and bring additional financial resources to our universities and the state,” says South Dakota Board of Regents President Kevin Schieffer. “Our data show 30 percent of non-resident students stay in South Dakota to pursue a career after graduation. This is an important demographic for us to engage.”

Scott Pohlson, vice president of enrollment, marketing, and university relations at the University of South Dakota (USD), said the South Dakota Advantage tuition program builds on the success South Dakota universities have seen by offering in-state rates to students from Nebraska and Iowa. This year at USD, enrollment by students from Nebraska increased by 25 percent and enrollment by students from Iowa increased by 8.4 percent.

“USD has witnessed tremendous enrollment growth from students from Iowa and Nebraska, and we continue to look for new opportunities to diversify our student body,” Pohlson says. “The value USD offers has resonated with these students, and we want to spread that message in as many states as possible.”

About the University of South Dakota
Founded in 1862 and the first university in the Dakotas, the University of South Dakota is the only public liberal arts university in the state, with 205 undergraduate and 73 graduate programs in the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Education, School of Law, Sanford School of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Beacom School of Business and College of Fine Arts. With an enrollment of more than 10,000 students and more than 400 faculty, USD has a 17:1 student/faculty ratio, and it ranks among the best in academics and affordability. USD’s 18 athletic programs compete at the NCAA Division I level.

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