South Dakota is unique in the United States in that it is the only state with no state-supported public community colleges. The state does have four public technical institutes offering associate degrees. The institutes operate under the South Dakota State Board of Education. There are also three federally supported tribal colleges. Community Colleges in the state of South Dakota aim to prepare students to enter the job force or to transfer them to four-year colleges to pursue a bachelor's degree. South Dakota's community colleges offer a wide variety of degree and programs, as well as small class sizes and optional online courses. Generally, community colleges also provide lower tuition costs, along with flexible scheduling to help students fit in classes around their work schedule.
There are 7 community colleges located throughout the state of South Dakota (5 public colleges and 2 private colleges), educating 7,458 college students.
Community colleges in South Dakota: one of the largest and well-liked college is Southeast Technical Institute with 1,907 full time college students and an in-state tuition list price of $2,496. Sisseton Wahpeton College is one of the most costly community school in South Dakota with an in-state tuition of $3,750.
On average, how much does it costs to attend community college in South Dakota? For South Dakota community colleges, the state's average tuition is about $6,500 per year for in-state college students and $6,500 for out-of-state students. For private community colleges in the state, the typical yearly tuition is roughly $12,780 per year