In-State Tuition in South Dakota: Residency Rules and Out-of-State Rates (Undergraduate, 2026)

Verified 2026-08-072025–26 rates

South Dakota is in:WUEMSEPACMTuition Break

VerdictIn-state tuition

To get in-state tuition in South Dakota you need 12 months of South Dakota domicile before the term begins (SDBOR Policy 3:5). In-state undergraduate tuition is $10,000 a year at University of South Dakota, against $13,600 for non-residents. South Dakota participates in WUE.

You would pay: $10,000/yr
Resident pays: $10,000/yr
Non-resident rate: $13,600/yr
Residency worth over 4 yrs: $14,400

Tuition and mandatory fees only, compiled from published rates and rounded. Excludes housing, books and course differentials. Eligibility is decided by the institution, not by this page.

Coming to South Dakota from a specific state?Pick your home state and the checker returns your exact route and the dollar difference.

South Dakota charges $10,000 a year for in-state undergraduate study at University of South Dakota and $13,600 for everyone else. South Dakota takes part in WUE, which is the only route to a lower rate that does not require moving.

South Dakota classifies a student as a resident after 12 months of domicile. A domicile in South Dakota maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing. Classification is decided by the institution you enroll at, and a financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile.

This page covers all 50 origin states. Direction matters: what a South Dakota resident pays elsewhere is a different question from what an arriving student pays here, and the two are rarely symmetric.

What South Dakota charges, and who pays less

Routes into South Dakota at University of South Dakota, undergraduate level — 2025–26 rates
Route	What it gives you	Per year	Saving	Guaranteed?
South Dakota residency	You pay the published resident rate once you meet the state's residency test.	$10,000	$3,600	Yes, if eligible

South Dakota residency requirements

Residency for tuition purposes in South Dakota, verified 2026-08-07
Durational requirement	12 months of domicile before the term begins
Domicile test	A domicile in South Dakota maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing.
Dependent students	A financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile. If your parents are not South Dakota residents, you are not one either, regardless of where you live.
Independent students	A financially independent adult can establish domicile on their own record.
Named exceptions	Active-duty military stationed in South Dakota and their dependents
Authority	South Dakota Board of Regents ↗(SDBOR Policy 3:5)

Step by step

Confirm you meet the South Dakota domicile test: A domicile in South Dakota maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing.
Gather the documents the South Dakota Board of Regents asks for — a driver's license, voter registration, vehicle registration and a 12-month record of physical presence are the usual set.
File the residency classification form with the campus registrar before the term's deadline; classification is decided by the institution, not by the state.
If you are financially dependent, check whose domicile counts — South Dakota assigns a dependent student the parents' domicile, so the parents must qualify.

Official links

South Dakota Board of Regents ↗University of South Dakota tuition ↗South Dakota residency ↗

Coming to South Dakota from another state

Direction matters. These cover the exact move into South Dakota at undergraduate level:

Alabama → South Dakota Alaska → South Dakota Arizona → South Dakota Arkansas → South Dakota California → South Dakota Colorado → South Dakota Connecticut → South Dakota Delaware → South Dakota District of Columbia → South Dakota Florida → South Dakota Georgia → South Dakota Hawaii → South Dakota Idaho → South Dakota Illinois → South Dakota Indiana → South Dakota Iowa → South Dakota

All 50 origin states

Kansas → South Dakota Kentucky → South Dakota Louisiana → South Dakota Maine → South Dakota Maryland → South Dakota Massachusetts → South Dakota Michigan → South Dakota Minnesota → South Dakota Mississippi → South Dakota Missouri → South Dakota Montana → South Dakota Nebraska → South Dakota Nevada → South Dakota New Hampshire → South Dakota New Jersey → South Dakota New Mexico → South Dakota New York → South Dakota North Carolina → South Dakota North Dakota → South Dakota Ohio → South Dakota Oklahoma → South Dakota Oregon → South Dakota Pennsylvania → South Dakota Rhode Island → South Dakota South Carolina → South Dakota Tennessee → South Dakota Texas → South Dakota Utah → South Dakota Vermont → South Dakota Virginia → South Dakota Washington → South Dakota West Virginia → South Dakota Wisconsin → South Dakota Wyoming → South Dakota

Leaving South Dakota to study elsewhere

What a South Dakota resident pays in each of the other 50 states:

South Dakota → Alabama South Dakota → Alaska South Dakota → Arizona South Dakota → Arkansas South Dakota → California South Dakota → Colorado South Dakota → Connecticut South Dakota → Delaware South Dakota → District of Columbia South Dakota → Florida South Dakota → Georgia South Dakota → Hawaii South Dakota → Idaho South Dakota → Illinois South Dakota → Indiana South Dakota → Iowa

All 50 destination states

South Dakota → Kansas South Dakota → Kentucky South Dakota → Louisiana South Dakota → Maine South Dakota → Maryland South Dakota → Massachusetts South Dakota → Michigan South Dakota → Minnesota South Dakota → Mississippi South Dakota → Missouri South Dakota → Montana South Dakota → Nebraska South Dakota → Nevada South Dakota → New Hampshire South Dakota → New Jersey South Dakota → New Mexico South Dakota → New York South Dakota → North Carolina South Dakota → North Dakota South Dakota → Ohio South Dakota → Oklahoma South Dakota → Oregon South Dakota → Pennsylvania South Dakota → Rhode Island South Dakota → South Carolina South Dakota → Tennessee South Dakota → Texas South Dakota → Utah South Dakota → Vermont South Dakota → Virginia South Dakota → Washington South Dakota → West Virginia South Dakota → Wisconsin South Dakota → Wyoming

South Dakota at other levels

South Dakota — Community College South Dakota — Graduate

Asked and answered

›What are the residency requirements for in-state tuition in South Dakota?

A domicile in South Dakota maintained for the full 12 months preceding enrollment, shown through the ordinary markers of permanent residence — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and tax filing. The durational requirement is 12 months, administered by the South Dakota Board of Regents under SDBOR Policy 3:5. Classification is made by the institution you enroll at, not centrally.

›How much is out-of-state tuition in South Dakota?

$13,600 a year in tuition and mandatory fees at University of South Dakota for 2025–26, against $10,000 for a resident — a gap of $3,600. Rates differ by campus and by college within a campus.

›Which tuition exchange programs does South Dakota belong to?

South Dakota participates in WUE at undergraduate level. Membership is a state-level commitment; each campus then decides whether to offer the program and which majors it opens.

›Can I get in-state tuition in South Dakota after one year of living there?

12 months of domicile is the requirement, but time alone is not enough. You have to show you moved to live in South Dakota rather than to attend college there — driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, employment and state tax filing are the evidence campuses ask for. A financially dependent student is assigned the parents' domicile regardless.

Sources

Every eligibility rule on this page is checked against the operating compact commission or the state's own residency authority. Last verified 2026-08-07.

Tuition figures on this page are compiled 2025–26 published rates (basis: published compiled), rounded to the nearest $100 and refreshed each June. Eligibility rules are checked against the cited compact commission or residency authority.

South Dakota Board of Regents — residency for tuition purposes ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
University of South Dakota — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07
USD Graduate School — tuition and fees ↗Accessed 2026-08-07

How this page was made

Compiled and checked by Billy Reiner, editor of In-State Check. Last verified 2026-08-07.

Compiled from published rate pages: The in-state and non-resident figures are tuition and mandatory fees for one full-time year, read from University of South Dakota’s own 2025–26 rate page and rounded to the nearest $100. Housing, books, travel and course-specific differentials are not included in them.
Checked against the administering body: Compact membership at this level was checked against the commission that runs the program (WICHE). The residency test — the durational requirement, the domicile evidence and the dependent-student rule — was checked against South Dakota Board of Regents, SDBOR Policy 3:5. Nothing here is taken from another comparison site.

Not advice. In-State Check is independent of every college, compact and state agency named here. Residency classification and award decisions are made by the institution you apply to. Found an error? Send the page URL and the source that contradicts it to [email protected], and the page is corrected and re-dated. Full methodology.