(C) South Dakota Searchlight
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Overall enrollment is flat this fall at South Dakota public universities • South Dakota Searchlight [1]
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Date: 2025-09-11
South Dakota public university enrollment this fall is 36,091 students, exactly the same as last fall, according to numbers released Thursday by the South Dakota Board of Regents.
Enrollment dropped for two universities and increased by less than 3% at four others:
Black Hills State University in Spearfish increased by 2.36% to 3,425 students.
Dakota State University in Madison grew by 1.8% to 3,842 students.
Northern State University in Aberdeen grew by 0.84% to 3,739 students.
South Dakota Mines in Rapid City decreased by 1.47% to 2,541 students.
South Dakota State University in Brookings grew by 0.61% to 12,139 students.
University of South Dakota in Vermillion decreased by 2.02% to 10,405 students.
System-wide enrollment peaked at 36,662 in 2017, and no year since then has equaled that mark.
The numbers could be a sign of the “2025 cliff” that officials have been fearing, attributed to a lower birth rate during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. There will be a 10% decline in high school graduates nationally from 2025 to 2037, Board of Regents Executive Director Nathan Lukkes told lawmakers last year.
Despite the flat trend overall, more South Dakota high school graduates are pursuing higher education in the state than in recent years, Lukkes said in a news release. South Dakota student enrollment increased this fall to 22,410, a 1% increase over last year, according to system data.
Black Hills State University reported the largest increase in student enrollment this fall by percentage and raw numbers, with 79 more students. It also reported its largest freshman class since 2019 at 500 enrollees, and a 58% increase in Native American enrollment, at 142 students.
South Dakota State University reported the highest percentage increase in full-time enrollment. Dakota State University’s enrollment is a record high for that school, and Northern State University’s enrollment is the highest since at least 1998.
Despite the decline in enrollment at USD, the university reported enrollment at its Sioux Falls campus increased by 19.1%. The university expanded degree programs to the campus in recent years, including its masters in business administration program and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. The university recently announced that it will move its medical school to Sioux Falls.
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[1] Url:
https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2025/09/11/sd-board-regents-university-enrollment-stagnates-with-latest-report/
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