Which Dakota State major has the lowest debt?

Computer and Information Science graduates leave with a median of $23,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 8 Dakota State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Dakota State cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $9,654 a year, and $12,756 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $21,057 a year.

How many Dakota State programs report graduate pay?

8 bachelor's programs at Dakota State report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Dakota State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Dakota State University
Public university
Madison, SD
2,071 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

8 Dakota State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Information Science pays the most in the first year ($63,636), and Software and Media Applications the least ($26,379). The median program pays $45,688.

In-state tuition and fees$9,654Per year. Out-of-state $12,756

Average net price after aid$21,057Per year

Graduation rate51%Within 6 years

Admission rate88%Of applicants

All 8 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	Information ScienceAbout 19 graduates a year	$63,636	$78,642	$29,318	1st of 1
2	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 62 graduates a year	$61,287	$67,572	$23,000	3rd of 4
3	Information TechnologyAbout 119 graduates a year	$58,166	$82,915	$25,000	1st of 1
4	Teacher EducationAbout 17 graduates a year	$46,627	$44,432	$26,600	2nd of 8
5	Business AdministrationAbout 10 graduates a year	$44,748	$55,529	$30,625	5th of 8
6	Special EducationAbout 11 graduates a year	$42,318	$42,986	$31,000	3rd of 3
7	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 19 graduates a year	$41,119	Not reported	$37,250	2nd of 3
8	Software and Media ApplicationsAbout 30 graduates a year	$26,379	$41,222	$27,000	1st of 1

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.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Information Science$63,636
Computer and Information Science$61,287
Information Technology$58,166
Teacher Education$46,627
Business Administration$44,748

Lowest median debt

Computer and Information Science$23,000
Information Technology$25,000
Teacher Education$26,600
Software and Media Applications$27,000
Information Science$29,318

Largest programs

Information TechnologyAbout 119 graduates a year
Computer and Information ScienceAbout 62 graduates a year
Software and Media ApplicationsAbout 30 graduates a year
Information ScienceAbout 19 graduates a year
Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 19 graduates a year

Common questions

Information Science graduates earn a median of $63,636 in their first year, the most of 8 Dakota 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