South Dakota State University

Overview

South Dakota State University

South Dakota State University (SDSU) is a public land-grant university in Brookings, South Dakota, United States. It was founded in 1881 as Dakota Agriculture College. It is recognized as South Dakota’s largest and most comprehensive university, as well as the oldest university in the state in continuous operation. The university is highly regarded for its program offerings such as agriculture, engineering, and nursing.

South Dakota State University Key Statistics

The university comprises nine colleges, including the Colleges of Nursing, Natural Sciences, Education and Human Sciences, and Education and Human Sciences. They offer 80 majors, 97 minors, and 35 specializations in 175 fields of study. They also offer 36 master’s, 15 doctoral, and two professional doctorate programs.

As of fall 2020, SDSU’s student population numbered 11,405 students. There are 9,843 students at the undergraduate level, 1,198 at the graduate level, and 364 at the professional level. Meanwhile, there are around 2,000 full-time equivalent employees. Around 638 employees are faculty members, 631 are support staff, and 67 are administrative staff. The university maintains three campuses, namely the main, west, and east campuses.

Other South Dakota State University key statistics include figures for The Hilton M. Briggs Library. It houses over 635,000 bound volumes, 315,000 government documents, and 79,000 maps. They also have 1,800 journal titles with 28,000 more titles available online. SDSU has two museums that are open to the public. Other university facilities include an arboretum and a 73,000-square-foot wellness center.

South Dakota State University Research

SDSU is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity." Key areas of research include engineering, biological science, and agricultural science. For fiscal year 2020, SDSU’s total research expenditures amounted to $60,870,864. Research funding sources include the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the South Dakota Research and Commercialization Council.

The top fields of South Dakota State University research are biology, chemistry, and environmental science. Its research outputs have been published in prestigious journals like Remote Sensing of Environment, Science, and Journal of Dairy Science. Its researchers have attended major scholarly conferences such as PVSC: Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PES: Power and Energy Society General Meeting, and IGARSS: International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

The most cited South Dakota State University research publication is Hansen et al.’s (2013) “High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change” published in Science and cited 7,505 times. The university’s second most cited publication is Chander et al.’s (2009) “Summary of current radiometric calibration coefficients for Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+, and EO-1 ALI sensors” published in Remote Sensing Environment and cited 3,291 times. Moreover, the university’s third most cited publication is Reichstein et al.’s (2005) “On the separation of net ecosystem exchange into assimilation and ecosystem respiration: Review and improved algorithm” published in Global Change Biology and cited 2,675 times.

In addition, the university is home to several research centers and institutes. These include the Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence and the Antelope Range and Livestock Research Station. Significant research projects include chemical profiling of counterfeit drugs, development of biodegradable film crop from residue and native grasses, and improving battery performance by using lithium metal.

You can also learn more about the educational performance of South Dakota State University in our ranking of US universities & colleges.