BOR approves expanding SD Advantage program

December 18, 2023

The South Dakota Board of Regents voted this week to expand its South Dakota Advantage program to include students from Minnesota, Kansas, and Missouri.

Undergraduate students from these states will be able to attend S.D. regental schools at the in-state tuition rate beginning summer of 2024. For graduate students, this expansion will apply only to non-capped graduate programs. Minnesota students currently enrolled in the BOR system will continue receiving the Minnesota reciprocity rate until graduation.

“This presents a great opportunity for students in our region who will be able to take advantage of South Dakota programs of study and not have to pay out-of-state tuition,” said Dr. Rebecca Hoey, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs.

Students who attend Dakota State can major in affordable and technology-centric majors in the cyber sciences, information systems, business, education, and arts & sciences. These programs are world-class, as DSU is the only institution in the region with all three Center of Academic Excellence designations from the National Security Agency.  She added that DSU courses also give the students flexibility because they are available on-campus, online, and in hybrid formats.

In addition, Board of Regents’ documentation states this change will help with workforce needs. Since the Dakota Advantage program was implemented in 2018, BOR documentation shows that about 30% of nonresident students stay in the state after graduation.

“This educated workforce is critical to our state filling growing high-tech jobs, meeting the demands in health fields, and keeping entrepreneurs in the state,” said BOR documentation.

States currently included in the program are North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.