South Dakota Score Card

South Dakota, the 46th most populous state, has relatively high educational attainment. It has few adults at low attainment levels and has the second highest percentage of adults with an associate degree. South Dakota has, at 88 percent, the third highest proportion of college students enrolled in four-year institutions, trailing only Alaska and the District of Columbia. Yet, only 45 percent of freshmen enrolling at four-year institutions graduate in six years or less, compared to the national mark of 55.9 percent. The state is expected to have a 10 percent decrease in high school graduates from 2007–08 to 2017–18.

South Dakota's higher education accountability system's strengths are:

• Gathering information on a wide breadth of performance measures, particularly on student learning and teaching.
• Comparing data across time and/or against peers.
• Proactively informing prospective students, parents, and the general public about the performance of state colleges and universities.

South Dakota's higher education accountability system needs work in:

• Aligning state priorities with concrete goals for achievement.
• Formally linking budgetary decisions to the performance of state postsecondary institutions.