Which Western Dakota Technical College associate's program has the lowest debt?

Welding and Machining graduates leave with a median of $12,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 8 Western Dakota Technical College associate's programs that report debt.

How much does Western Dakota Technical College cost?

Tuition and fees are $8,294 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $12,670 a year.

How many Western Dakota Technical College programs report graduate pay?

8 associate's programs and 4 certificate programs at Western Dakota Technical College report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Western Dakota Technical College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Public college
Rapid City, SD
753 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

8 Western Dakota Technical College associate's programs report what graduates earn. Diagnostic and Treatment Professions pays the most in the first year ($54,737), and Business Administration the least ($24,503). The median program pays $39,225. Western Dakota Technical College also has 4 certificate programs that report pay.

Tuition and fees$8,294Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$12,670Per year

Graduation rate54%Within 1.5 times the normal program length

All 8 associate'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 associate'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	Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 18 graduates a year	$54,737	$63,185	$18,081	3rd of 4
2	Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 13 graduates a year	$46,378	Not reported	$24,994	2nd of 2
3	Electrician TrainingAbout 7 graduates a year	$41,303	Not reported	$12,548	2nd of 2
4	Computer NetworkingAbout 12 graduates a year	$40,418	Not reported	$20,049	2nd of 2
5	Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 27 graduates a year	$38,031	$57,387	$15,125	4th of 4
6	Welding and MachiningAbout 23 graduates a year	$37,717	$46,336	$12,000	2nd of 2
7	Criminal JusticeAbout 17 graduates a year	$27,459	$49,288	$17,999	3rd of 3
8	Business AdministrationAbout 12 graduates a year	$24,503	$43,025	$22,017	2nd of 2

All 4 certificate 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 certificate 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	Welding and MachiningAbout 20 graduates a year	$44,614	$40,835	$9,125	1st of 1
2	Practical NursingAbout 56 graduates a year	$43,884	$45,734	$20,500	1st of 5
3	Dental Hygiene and AssistingAbout 6 graduates a year	$32,951	Not reported	$8,250	2nd of 2
4	Allied Health and Medical AssistingAbout 10 graduates a year	$22,074	$35,826	$11,375	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 certificate program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Quick picks: associate's programs

Highest first-year pay

Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$54,737
Medical Laboratory Science$46,378
Electrician Training$41,303
Computer Networking$40,418
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$38,031

Lowest median debt

Welding and Machining$12,000
Electrician Training$12,548
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair$15,125
Criminal Justice$17,999
Diagnostic and Treatment Professions$18,081

Largest programs

Vehicle Maintenance and RepairAbout 27 graduates a year
Welding and MachiningAbout 23 graduates a year
Diagnostic and Treatment ProfessionsAbout 18 graduates a year
Criminal JusticeAbout 17 graduates a year
Medical Laboratory ScienceAbout 13 graduates a year

Common questions

Diagnostic and Treatment Professions graduates earn a median of $54,737 in their first year, the most of 8 Western Dakota Technical College associate'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