South Dakota Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate

Below is a ranking of the 15 colleges in South Dakota with the highest acceptance rate for freshman undergraduate applications. National American University Rapid City leads the list by accepting 100% of high school students that applied.

Acceptance rate is a measure of the competitiveness of a school. Lower acceptance rates are more competitive and may require a higher GPA, SAT/ACT score, and other factors to be considered for admission.

List of South Dakota Colleges Ranked by Highest Acceptance Rate
College	Acceptance Rate
National American University Rapid City Rapid City, South Dakota	100%
Oglala Lakota College Kyle, South Dakota	100%
Sinte Gleska University Mission, South Dakota	100%
Institute of Lutheran Theology Brookings, South Dakota	100%
University of South Dakota Vermillion, South Dakota	99%
South Dakota State University Brookings, South Dakota	98%
Black Hills State University Spearfish, South Dakota	96%
Northern State University Aberdeen, South Dakota	93%
Dakota State University Madison, South Dakota	88%
Kairos University Sioux Falls, South Dakota	85%
University of Sioux Falls Sioux Falls, South Dakota	83%
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City, South Dakota	80%
Dakota Wesleyan University Mitchell, South Dakota	73%
Augustana University Sioux Falls, South Dakota	68%
Mount Marty University Yankton, South Dakota	43%

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This list is updated annually based on the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Last updated: August 2026

Data source: IPEDS 2025 survey for academic year 2024/2025 - National Center for Education Statistics.