South Dakota State University
83%
Acceptance rate
$15,837
Tuition/yr
12,500
Enrollment
About South Dakota State University
Public research university in South Dakota. Strong engineering, agriculture, and business programs.
South Dakota State University (SDSU) is a public land-grant research university founded in 1881, located in Brookings, South Dakota. It is the largest and most comprehensive higher-education institution in the state, governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents, with a fall 2025 enrollment of 12,139 students from 48 states and 78 countries.
SDSU offers 90 undergraduate majors, 39 master's degree programs, and 17 Ph.D. programs across colleges covering engineering, nursing, pharmacy, agriculture, business, and the arts and sciences. The university draws particular strength in nursing (over 1,200 enrolled students), agricultural and biosystems engineering, animal science, and health sciences, backed by $94 million in annual research expenditure for FY2025.
The campus sits in Brookings, a small city of roughly 25,000 people in eastern South Dakota, approximately 50 miles north of Sioux Falls. SDSU is ranked #257 among U.S. National Universities and #145 among Top Public Schools by U.S. News & World Report (2026 edition), and falls in the 1001–1200 band of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2025.
World University Rankings
Campus & Location
SD
Suburban
Optional Practical Training (OPT)
All graduates from CRICOS-registered programs qualify for 12-month Optional Practical Training (OPT). STEM-designated programs (CS, Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Sciences) qualify for a 24-month STEM OPT extension — 36 months total of US work authorisation.
For Nepali students
- SDSU's international undergraduate tuition and fees were approximately $15,837 for 2025–2026, making it one of the more affordable U.S. land-grant universities for Nepali students who need to manage cost without sacrificing program quality.
- The Jackrabbit Guarantee Scholarship is automatically considered for all first-time undergraduate applicants at admission, with no separate application required, reducing the barrier for international students to access merit aid.
- Strong graduate and undergraduate programs in engineering, agriculture, and health sciences include STEM-designated degrees, which qualify eligible graduates for a 24-month OPT STEM extension on top of the standard 12-month OPT, giving Nepali graduates up to three years of U.S. work authorization after completing their degree.
- With students from 78 countries and active international student support through the Office of International Student and Scholar Engagement, Nepali students join a globally diverse but comparatively small campus community where individual attention and support services are more accessible than at larger flagship universities.
Admission requirements — Nepali equivalents
A rough translation of the published minimums for Nepali applicants:
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