by our College Data Analytics TeamIt's not easy to decide which school to attend when you have so many options available. College Factual has developed its Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota ranking as one thing you can use to help make this decision. The amount of financial aid you could receive at various schools, including some with high sticker prices, may surprise you.
See What's Included in This Value Report:
After analyzing 9 schools in South Dakota, we came up with our list of those that offered the best value Associate Degree programs. To come up with this ranking of the best value schools, we look at factors that are all objective measurements. In the next few paragraphs, we'll talk a little about what we use in our analysis and why.
To calculate the value of a school in our Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota ranking, we first consider its average net price of students from families making $75-$110k a year. The net price is the sum of room and board, tuition, and fees minus any financial aid that that the student receives. But, a school that excels in providing value for your money must also be a great school overall as well.
To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Find out more about our best value ranking methodology.
Keep scrolling for the top schools in this ranking or select one of the other rankings methods below.
If you know what major you want to study, check out our list of the best value schools by major. If you're interested in other degree levels, you can view one of the lists below.
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Lake Area Technical Institute to be the best value (income $75-$110k) school for associate degrees in South Dakota in this year’s ranking. Located in Watertown, South Dakota, the school is a small public institution.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Lake Area Technical Institute is ranked #2 for quality in the state of South Dakota. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $16,723.
A rank of #2 on our Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota list means Mitchell Technical College is a great place for students working on their degree. Mitchell Tech is located in Mitchell, South Dakota and has a small student population. It is a public school.
Mitchell Technical College has the honor of being ranked #3 in South Dakota for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $15,498.
A rank of #3 on our Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota list means South Dakota State University is a great place for students working on their degree. South Dakota State is a public institution located in Brookings, South Dakota.
Not only is South Dakota State University a great value, but it is also ranked #1 in South Dakota for overall quality. Students from families who make $75-$110k a year pay an annual average net price of $19,546.
A rank of #4 on our Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota list means Oglala Lakota College is a great place for students working on their degree. Located in Kyle, South Dakota, the school is a small public institution.
Not only is Oglala Lakota College a great value, but it is also ranked #10 in South Dakota for overall quality. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $6,151.
The quality degree programs at Southeast Technical College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota. Sioux Falls, South Dakota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. It is a public school.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Southeast Technical College is ranked #5 for quality in the state of South Dakota. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $16,946.
Dakota State University did quite well in the 2024 Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota ranking, coming in at #6. Located in Madison, South Dakota, the school is a small public institution.
Not only is Dakota State University a great value, but it is also ranked #4 in South Dakota for overall quality. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $20,432.
Black Hills State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota ranking. BHSU is a small public school situated in Spearfish, South Dakota.
Black Hills State University has the honor of being ranked #8 in South Dakota for overall quality on top of being a good value. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $18,323.
University of Sioux Falls came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota ranking. University of Sioux Falls is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Not only is University of Sioux Falls a great value, but it is also ranked #6 in South Dakota for overall quality. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $22,986.
Western Dakota Technical Institute did quite well in the 2024 Best Associate Degree Colleges for the Money (Income $75-$110k) in South Dakota ranking, coming in at #9. Western Dakota Technical Institute is a small public school located in Rapid City, South Dakota.
In addition to being included on this ranking as a good value, Western Dakota Technical Institute is ranked #9 for quality in the state of South Dakota. The average yearly net price for a student whose family makes $75-$110k per year is $19,795.
Read full value report on Western Dakota Technical Institute
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Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 9 schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.