You probably recognize the four faces carved into rock in the picture above. It's an image of Mount Rushmore, one of South Dakota's most famous attractions.
From left to right, it shows George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, all landmark presidents in US history. While these men are seared into the public imagination, some of the colleges below might not be.
But that's not because of any lack of quality. Out of the thousands of colleges and universities in the country, it's hard to keep track of them all. That's why we've put together this ranking. We've listed the best colleges in South Dakota, so that if you're considering going to school in the Mount Rushmore State, you can have an idea of what your options are. And, if you're interested in the Best Online Schools in South Dakota, we've got those too!
Of course, this ranking shouldn't be the be-all, end-all of your college decision. We highly recommend reading other sources and visiting campuses, which will help account for what our statistical analysis cannot.
What are the best colleges in South Dakota?
Speaking of statistical analysis, you're probably wondering how we came up with our ranking. The numbers are based on three important factors: institutional excellence, which examines academic factors like admission rates and student-to-faculty ratio; return on investment, which weighs cost against expected early career salary; and student satisfaction, which is an aggregate of the reviews actual students have written about their on-campus experience. Our data comes from IPEDS, U.S. News & World Report, Payscale, and college websites.
Rankings
See our rankings methodology page.
