Which Black Hills State major has the lowest debt?

Kinesiology and Exercise Science graduates leave with a median of $24,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 7 Black Hills State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Black Hills State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $8,764 a year, and $11,866 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $15,911 a year.

How many Black Hills State programs report graduate pay?

9 bachelor's programs at Black Hills State report first-year pay, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

Black Hills State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Black Hills State University
Public university
Spearfish, SD
1,928 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

9 Black Hills State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Special Education pays the most in the first year ($49,134), and Design and Applied Arts the least ($31,022). The median program pays $39,092.

In-state tuition and fees$8,764Per year. Out-of-state $11,866

Average net price after aid$15,911Per year

Graduation rate43%Within 6 years

Admission rate96%Of applicants

All 9 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in South Dakota" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across South Dakota. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in South Dakota
1	Special EducationAbout 6 graduates a year	$49,134	$49,089	$26,812	1st of 3
2	Teacher EducationAbout 41 graduates a year	$47,978	$48,096	$26,312	1st of 8
3	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 14 graduates a year	$47,494	$51,966	Not reported	1st of 4
4	Business AdministrationAbout 82 graduates a year	$45,682	$54,682	$27,000	4th of 8
5	Community Organization and AdvocacyAbout 21 graduates a year	$39,092	$32,818	$31,500	1st of 1
6	PsychologyAbout 20 graduates a year	$35,996	$36,298	$27,187	2nd of 5
7	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 26 graduates a year	$34,142	$45,938	$24,000	4th of 4
8	BiologyAbout 27 graduates a year	$33,518	Not reported	$26,613	2nd of 4
9	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 6 graduates a year	$31,022	Not reported	Not reported	2nd of 2

Program names link to the program's own page, and South Dakota ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five South Dakota programs in the field do too.

One more bachelor's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Special Education$49,134
Teacher Education$47,978
Subject-Area Teacher Education$47,494
Business Administration$45,682
Community Organization and Advocacy$39,092

Lowest median debt

Kinesiology and Exercise Science$24,000
Teacher Education$26,312
Biology$26,613
Special Education$26,812
Business Administration$27,000

Largest programs

Business AdministrationAbout 82 graduates a year
Teacher EducationAbout 41 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 27 graduates a year
Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 26 graduates a year
Community Organization and AdvocacyAbout 21 graduates a year

Common questions

Special Education graduates earn a median of $49,134 in their first year, the most of 9 Black Hills State bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of South Dakota rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels