2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in South Dakota (With Aid)

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Communication & Media Studies is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 9th of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 68,079 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2017-2018, communication and media studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $32,728 and had an average of $24,931 in loans still to pay off.

Across South Dakota, there were 175 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,400 and $24,333 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 142 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in communication and media studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent communication and media studies programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the communication and media studies program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in South Dakota (With Aid)

#1

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, South Dakota

#1 in overall quality

$18,555 Average Net Price

$34,348 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of South Dakota. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid. USD is a medium-sized public school situated in Vermillion, South Dakota. It awarded 66 bachelors’s communications degrees in 2019-2020.

USD also made our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend University of South Dakota is $18,555 for South Dakota Bachelor’s Degree Communications students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at USD

#2

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$19,252 Average Net Price

$25,967 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Dakota State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid. South Dakota State University is a fairly large school located in Brookings, South Dakota that handed out 27 bachelors’s communications degrees in 2019-2020.

South Dakota State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. The yearly cost to attend South Dakota State University is $19,252 for South Dakota Bachelor’s Degree Communications students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at South Dakota State University

#3

Black Hills State University

Spearfish, South Dakota

#4 in overall quality

$16,641 Average Net Price

$25,194 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Black Hills State University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid list. Black Hills State University is located in Spearfish, South Dakota and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 23 bachelors’s communications degrees to qualified students.

BHSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” list. The yearly cost to attend Black Hills State University is $16,641 for south dakota bachelor’s degree communications students with aid.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at BHSU

#4

University of Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

#3 in overall quality

$19,893 Average Net Price

$32,569 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Communications Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Sioux Falls landed the #4 spot on the list. University of Sioux Falls is a private not-for-profit institution located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 8 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

University of Sioux Falls also took the #3 spot in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. It costs about $19,893 for south dakota bachelor’s degree communications students with aid per year to attend University of Sioux Falls.

The low student loan default rate of 4.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full University of Sioux Falls Communication & Media Studies Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in the Plains States Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies (With Aid)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland.

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