University of South Dakota

What are the graduation rates for students at University of South Dakota?

USD's reported six-year graduation rate is 60% for the measured first-time, full-time undergraduate cohort pursuing a bachelor's degree. Its four-year rate is 47%. These are cohort measures: they do not describe the graduation probability of every transfer, part-time, returning, or graduate student.

The reported first-year retention rate is 79%, meaning that about four in five students in the relevant first-time, full-time cohort returned the following fall. Graduation rates also have a time dimension: students who finish after four years but within six years raise the six-year rate without appearing in the four-year figure. A prospective student planning a tightly sequenced major can use these measures as context while separately checking course availability and the program's expected time to degree.

What is the earning potential for graduates at University of South Dakota?

College Scorecard program figures offer a limited view of earnings roughly one year after completion, not a prediction of any individual graduate's salary. The reported measure is median earnings for qualifying federally aided students with observable earnings; it does not capture every alumnus or all forms of compensation.

Examples in the available program figures include $57,262 for registered nursing, $43,992 for accounting, and $37,003 for business administration. Psychology is reported at $29,202. These figures refer to different fields and may reflect differences in occupations, geography, further study, and the students included in each measured group. They should not be read as an apples-to-apples ranking of teaching quality.

One year is also early in many careers. For fields in which graduates commonly pursue additional credentials, immediate earnings can tell a different story from longer-term outcomes. Students comparing programs should consider licensure requirements, likely education beyond the bachelor's degree, local job markets, and borrowing alongside earnings data.