2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities in South Dakota (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for an Associate in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

With 559,661 degrees handed out in 2019-2020, liberal arts / sciences and humanities is the 3rd most popular major in the United States. In 2017-2018, liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $26,786 and had an average of $16,538 in loans still to pay off.

Across South Dakota, there were 259 liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 140 liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for an Associate in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in liberal arts / sciences and humanities. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the liberal arts / sciences and humanities program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools

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

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for an Associate in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for an Associate in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid.

Top 2 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities in South Dakota (With Aid)

#1

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota

#1 in overall quality

$19,252 Average Net Price

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for an Associate in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, South Dakota State University landed the #1 spot on the list. South Dakota State University is a public institution located in Brookings, South Dakota. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 58 associates’s degrees in 2019-2020.

South Dakota State also took the #1 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for South Dakota State University is $19,252 for south dakota associate degree liberal arts / sciences & humanities students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at South Dakota State University

#2

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$18,555 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of South Dakota. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for an Associate in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid list. This medium-sized school is located in Vermillion, South Dakota, and it awarded 25 associates’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees in 2019-2020.

USD also took the #2 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. It costs about $18,555 for South Dakota Associate Degree Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities students with aid per year to attend USD.

The low student loan default rate of 4.8% 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%.

Read more about Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at University of South Dakota

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities in the Plains States Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities (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 Jacques Sablet (Switzerland, Morges, 1749-1803).

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