By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated October 26, 2026
Three South Dakota universities offer ABET-accredited engineering degrees, and this page lists what they cost and the test scores of the students they admit.
One of them charges a student from any state $14,900 a year in tuition and fees, less than any other engineering-specialized public university in the country charges a non-resident, and less than a Colorado resident pays Colorado School of Mines.
The table is sorted by ACT because South Dakota gives it as the state test and all three universities report it.
Table of Contents
- South Dakota Engineering Colleges by ACT and SAT Score
- Why Is South Dakota Mines the Cheapest Engineering School in the Country for an Out-of-State Student?
- Which South Dakota Universities Have ABET-Accredited Engineering Schools?
- What If Your Score Is Below the Range You Want?
South Dakota Engineering Colleges by ACT and SAT Score
The three universities below are the ones in South Dakota that hold an ABET-accredited bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline. They are sorted by the midpoint of the ACT composite range, so the order can be checked from the table itself, and the one tie is stated beneath it.
| College | ACT composite | SAT Reading & Writing | SAT Math | Cost of attendance | Undergraduates | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota Mines | 24 to 30 | 560 to 660 | 580 to 680 | $25,385 | 2,071 | 80% |
| University of South Dakota | 19 to 25 | 530 to 620 | 595 to 695 | $24,422 | 5,439 | 99% |
| South Dakota State University | 19 to 25 | 530 to 610 | 530 to 630 | $24,636 | 9,198 | 98% |
Each range covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test. A quarter scored below the lower number, and the top quarter scored at or above the upper one. Being under the lower number does not rule a student out, and being just above it is not as safe as it looks.
South Dakota and South Dakota State share an ACT range and are ordered by the SAT Math midpoint. Only universities with an ABET-accredited engineering bachelor’s degree are listed. South Dakota State’s engineering technology and construction management degrees are accredited under separate bodies and do not count toward its row. All three universities report both tests.
Three things about that table are worth pausing on.
South Dakota Mines charges a student from any state $14,900 in tuition and fees, the lowest non-resident figure of any engineering-specialized public university in the country in the 2025-26 Scorecard. The next section is about it.
All three universities charge a non-resident less than $15,000, the only state in this series where that is true of every public engineering school, and all three charge a resident less than $10,500.
South Dakota’s Math range, 595 to 695, sits above Mines’ at both ends and 65 points above South Dakota’s own Reading & Writing floor, on an ACT range five points below Mines’ at both ends. The figures are printed as the Scorecard reports them.
[In-article image 1, 2760 x 1440] ACT composite ladder: 25th to 75th percentile as a horizontal bar for each of the three universities. Alt text: ACT composite middle-50% ranges for South Dakota engineering universities File name: south-dakota-engineering-act-ladder
A student can see where his ACT score sits on this list in the image above.
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South Dakota Mines
South Dakota Mines in Rapid City holds ABET accreditation in biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, geological, industrial, mechanical, metallurgical and mining engineering, twelve programs in all with computer science and geology, and Mines charges a non-resident less than any other engineering-specialized public university in the country.
ACT composite 24 to 30. Reading & Writing 560 to 660, Math 580 to 680. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 30 on the ACT and 680 on Math. Cost of attendance $25,385, with tuition and fees at $10,500 in state and $14,900 out of state. 2,071 undergraduates, 80% admitted.
Mines has the highest ACT range on the page by five points at both ends, the smallest enrollment, and the only out-of-state premium of the three above $4,000. It is in the Black Hills, 1,700 miles from New York, and its price is the subject of the next section.
University of South Dakota
The University of South Dakota’s biomedical engineering degree in Vermillion was launched in 2018 as a collaboration with South Dakota Mines [VERIFY on abet.org whether the degree is accredited in South Dakota’s own name. If the accredited degree is Mines’ and South Dakota is a delivery site, remove this row and change “three” to “two” throughout], and South Dakota is on this page for that one degree.
ACT composite 19 to 25. Reading & Writing 530 to 620, Math 595 to 695. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 25 on the ACT and 695 on Math. Cost of attendance $24,422, with tuition and fees at $9,432 in state and $12,942 out of state. 5,439 undergraduates, 99% admitted.
South Dakota admits 99% of applicants and reports a Math range 15 points above Mines’ at both ends, printed here as reported. It is listed ahead of South Dakota State on that range, and its cost of attendance is the lowest on the page.
South Dakota State University
South Dakota State University’s Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering in Brookings holds ABET accreditation in agricultural and biosystems, civil, computer, electrical and mechanical engineering [VERIFY list on abet.org], and South Dakota State is the largest school on the page.
ACT composite 19 to 25. Reading & Writing 530 to 610, Math 530 to 630. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 25 on the ACT and 630 on Math. Cost of attendance $24,636, with tuition and fees at $9,299 in state and $12,809 out of state. 9,198 undergraduates, 98% admitted.
South Dakota State charges the lowest tuition on the page in both columns, $9,299 and $12,809, and has the lowest Math range. It is the state’s land-grant university and more than four times Mines’ size.
Three ranges say who got in. One price says why a student from New York should keep reading, and the next section is about it.
Why Is South Dakota Mines the Cheapest Engineering School in the Country for an Out-of-State Student?
South Dakota Mines is the cheapest engineering-specialized public university in the country for an out-of-state student because its non-resident tuition and fees are $14,900 in the 2025-26 Scorecard, below the figure at every other public university of its kind.
The comparison is in the same data. In the 2025-26 Scorecard, the engineering-specialized public universities charge a non-resident the following in tuition and fees: Tennessee Tech $15,576, Louisiana Tech $16,866, Montana Tech $26,150, New Mexico Tech $27,247, Missouri S&T $33,248, Georgia Tech $34,484, Oregon Tech $37,196, NJIT $37,664, Virginia Tech $37,764, Michigan Tech $42,988 and Colorado School of Mines $45,824. Mines’ $14,900 is $676 below Tennessee Tech’s and $30,924 below Colorado Mines’. A New York student pays Mines less than a Colorado resident pays Colorado Mines ($21,914), less than a New Jersey resident pays NJIT ($19,974) and less than a Michigan resident pays Michigan Tech ($19,123).
Mines’ own page gives the current year. For 2026-27, Mines lists direct costs of $12,100 for a South Dakota resident, $16,400 for a Western Undergraduate Exchange student and $17,000 for a non-resident, “based on 30 credits per year” and including “an estimate of applicable discipline fees.” The same page says children of Mines alumni receive the resident rate, that veterans with permanent South Dakota residence and active-duty personnel stationed in the state are classified as residents, and that eligible incoming students from eleven states, including Minnesota, pay the resident rate under the South Dakota Advantage program.
The eleven states are published by South Dakota State for its own version of the program: Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, and the rate is “granted to all new first-time and transfer students” and comes “automatically based on your state of residence” [VERIFY that Mines’ list is the same eleven]. New York is not on it. A New Yorker pays the full non-resident figure, and the full figure is the point of this section.
| University | Non-resident tuition and fees | ACT composite | SAT Math |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota Mines | $14,900 | 24 to 30 | 580 to 680 |
| Tennessee Tech | $15,576 | 20 to 27 | 520 to 660 |
| Louisiana Tech | $16,866 | 21 to 27 | 550 to 680 |
| Montana Tech | $26,150 | 19 to 25 | 530 to 630 |
| New Mexico Tech | $27,247 | 20 to 29 | 530 to 650 |
| Missouri S&T | $33,248 | 25 to 31 | 610 to 730 |
| Georgia Tech | $34,484 | 30 to 34 | 690 to 790 |
| Oregon Tech | $37,196 | 18 to 27 | 500 to 620 |
| NJIT | $37,664 | 27 to 34 | 610 to 750 |
| Virginia Tech | $37,764 | 28 to 32 | 640 to 740 |
| Michigan Tech | $42,988 | 25 to 31 | 560 to 670 |
| Colorado School of Mines | $45,824 | 29 to 33 | 670 to 750 |
Read the first row against the last two. Mines’ Math range of 580 to 680 sits above Michigan Tech’s 560 to 670 at both ends, and its ACT range of 24 to 30 sits one point below Michigan Tech’s at both ends, for $28,088 a year less. Colorado Mines admits on a range 90 points higher at the floor and charges three times as much.
[In-article image 2, 2760 x 1440] Twelve horizontal bars, one per engineering-specialized public university, each the Scorecard non-resident tuition, sorted from South Dakota Mines $14,900 at the top to Colorado School of Mines $45,824 at the bottom, with a dashed vertical line at $21,914 labeled “what a Colorado resident pays Colorado School of Mines.” Alt text: Non-resident tuition at engineering-specialized public universities with South Dakota Mines lowest File name: south-dakota-engineering-mines-price
The image above lines up what a non-resident pays at twelve engineering-specialized public universities.
Take a New York student with a 24 on the ACT. At South Dakota Mines he is at the floor of 24 to 30 and pays $14,900 in the Scorecard year, $17,000 in direct costs for 2026-27. At South Dakota State he is in the upper half of 19 to 25 and pays $12,809. At South Dakota he is in the upper half of the same range and pays $12,942. At Colorado School of Mines, on our page on engineering colleges in Colorado, he is five points below the floor of 29 to 33 and would pay $45,824. At Michigan Tech, on our page on engineering colleges in Michigan, he is one point below the floor of 25 to 31 and would pay $42,988. He is inside the range at the cheapest of the five and below it at the two most expensive.
South Dakota’s second number is the state’s. Every public engineering university in South Dakota charges a non-resident less than $15,000: Mines $14,900, South Dakota $12,942 and South Dakota State $12,809. In this series no other state’s public engineering schools all sit under that line. North Dakota’s two, on our page on engineering colleges in North Dakota, are $15,570 and $15,764, and they were the lowest flagship figures in the series when that page was written. A resident pays $10,500, $9,432 and $9,299 at the three, and a South Dakotan’s premium for leaving the state for any public engineering school on these pages is larger than a New Yorker’s premium for coming here.
Mines’ third number is a date. On September 26, 2023, Mines announced that twelve of its programs held ABET accreditation, with biomedical engineering and geology accredited for the first time, and that the approval “is retroactive and applies to all graduates who completed degrees after Oct. 1, 2020.” The university’s president said in the same release that its graduates see “98% job placement in their field of study and an average starting salary of more than $70,000,” a claim this page attributes to the university and does not check. The biomedical engineering degree is the one South Dakota’s Vermillion campus delivers in partnership with Mines.
The honest version is that $14,900 is a 2025-26 figure and $17,000 is Mines’ own 2026-27 direct cost with an estimated discipline fee inside it, and the page states both with their years rather than blending them. South Dakota’s Regents raised tuition across the system for 2026-27 [VERIFY the figure from the May 20, 2026 South Dakota Searchlight report, “at least 2.4%”]. Mines has 2,071 undergraduates in a city of 80,000 that is a day and a half’s drive from the George Washington Bridge, and a student who would not live there should not read the price. The “cheapest in the country” claim is scoped to engineering-specialized public universities as named in the table and to one year’s Scorecard, and Tennessee Tech is $676 behind. A student reading the first row should read the twelfth, and then decide what the difference buys.
Families from the Northeast frequently ask whether the resident rate reaches them.
Does a New York Student Get In-State Tuition at South Dakota Mines?
A New York student does not get in-state tuition at South Dakota Mines. The South Dakota Advantage program gives the resident rate to students from eleven named states, and New York is not one of them. The Western Undergraduate Exchange covers ten western states and several territories, and New York is not one of those either.
A New Yorker pays the non-resident rate, $14,900 in the Scorecard year and $17,000 in direct costs for 2026-27, unless a parent is a Mines alumnus, in which case Mines’ page says he receives the resident rate. The non-resident rate is still the lowest of its kind in the country.
The price is Mines’. The degrees are what the next section lists.
Which South Dakota Universities Have ABET-Accredited Engineering Schools?
Three South Dakota universities hold ABET-accredited engineering bachelor’s degrees, all of them public, and all three are in the table above.
In Rapid City, South Dakota Mines holds twelve accredited programs, ten of them engineering disciplines, under the accreditation it announced in September 2023. In Brookings, South Dakota State’s Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering is the land-grant university’s engineering school. In Vermillion, the University of South Dakota delivers a biomedical engineering degree in partnership with Mines. Rapid City is in the Black Hills in the west of the state, and Brookings and Vermillion are on the eastern edge, 350 miles away.
Accreditation matters for a reason that is easy to miss at seventeen. Licensure as a professional engineer normally requires a degree from an ABET-accredited engineering program, and that is why South Dakota State’s engineering technology degrees do not count toward its row. Dakota State, Black Hills State, Northern State, Augustana, the University of Sioux Falls, Dakota Wesleyan and Mount Marty award no engineering degree.
Nothing on this page ranks the three. The table’s order is a stated, verifiable number, and the choice among accredited programs comes down to cost, discipline and where a student’s score places him.
What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
In South Dakota three schools cover ACT ranges from a 19 floor to a 30 ceiling, all three are public, and a New York student’s price runs from $12,809 to $14,900. The score decides Mines or not, and below Mines the two prices are $133 apart.
The gap from a 24 to the upper half at Mines is three points of ACT composite, two or three questions a section, and the student who closes it is in the upper half at the cheapest engineering-specialized public university in the country. The gap from a 24 to Colorado Mines’ floor is five points and $30,924 a year.
The first step is finding out where the score actually is, section by section. A free diagnostic SAT gives a score that can be set against the SAT columns in the table and converted to the ACT scale for the rest of it.
The Math section rewards the same handful of topics on every test date, and a student who knows which of them he is missing can close a gap of 50 to 100 points in weeks rather than months. The method is on our page on improving your SAT Math score, and the same topics carry the ACT Math section
How to Read These Score Ranges
Every range on this page covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted that test. The lower number is the 25th percentile and the upper number is the 75th, so a quarter of admitted students scored at or above it.
A price is a published number and a range is a published description, and at Mines the two point different ways: the highest range on the page and the lowest price of its kind in the country. A student should read both and not let either one stand in for the other.
Because most colleges are now test-optional, the ranges that are published describe only the students who chose to submit at all. Students with strong scores submit and students with weak ones don’t, so a published range sits higher than the range for everyone who was actually admitted. More on what SAT score you need for college and on test-optional colleges.
Should You Take the SAT Instead?
South Dakota gives the ACT to its juniors as the state test [VERIFY with the South Dakota Department of Education], and all three universities on this page report an ACT range and an SAT range.
That is why the table carries an ACT composite column and is sorted by it. All three universities accept either test, and a student from outside South Dakota who holds an SAT should read the SAT columns and submit the test he scores higher on.
Engineering Programs in Nearby States
South Dakota borders North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming, and the eleven Advantage states include five of those six, so a South Dakota student’s neighbors get his state’s resident rate while he pays theirs.
See engineering colleges in North Dakota, engineering colleges in Minnesota, and engineering colleges in Nebraska.
Engineering Colleges in Other States
We publish the same breakdown for engineering programs in every state.
See engineering colleges by state for the full list.
Glyn Caddell
Glyn Caddell holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT and has been tutoring New York City students since 2008. He founded Caddell Prep in 2012 and is the author of Digital SAT Math Secrets: Lessons & Tricks to Quickly Improve to a Perfect 800 on the Math Test, which contains over 900 practice problems and is used in Caddell Prep’s SAT math classes. He is founding president of the Staten Island Technical High School alumni association and teaches every lesson on this site personally.
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