South Dakota residents looking to land a stable job have a range of top industries to choose from. Manufacturing, agriculture, bioscience, cybersecurity and more are listed by the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development as key sectors of the state's economy, and each of them offer entry-level positions for job candidates with the right training.
Certain training programs can add even more value to your job search in the right part of the state. Graduates with mining, construction or education training should be in high demand in the area around Sioux Falls, where those industries showed significant growth between October 2018 and October 2019. In the Rapid City region, Trained medical assistants can earn around $1,500 per year more than the state average.
Why is South Dakota Good for Vocational/Career Schools?
Programs that provide career technical education (CTE) training offer a few benefits that bachelor's degree programs at the university level can't match. One main advantage is the annual cost of tuition for South Dakota CTE programs — students at career and technical schools in South Dakota paid a little more than $6,000 for a year of tuition, while university students paid over $8,500.
South Dakota CTE programs also tend to take substantially less time to complete than four-year university degrees. Two years of full-time study is all it takes to earn associate degree, which represents the most comprehensive career training available at this level. Several certificate plans at the best trade and vocational schools in South Dakota can be completed in a year or less.
We've got a list of the top campus-based and online trade schools in South Dakota that can help you decide which institution might be right for you. Read on to the bottom of the page to learn about scholarships and grants available to state residents and get some tips on how to apply for financial aid in South Dakota.
Highest-Paying and Fastest-Growing Careers in South Dakota
The Best Trade and Vocational Schools in South Dakota
In order to figure out which institutions were the best trade and vocational schools in South Dakota, we collected U.S. Department of Education data in important categories like affordability, student success, schedule flexibility and more. Take a look at the list below:
Graduates of Mitchell Technical Institute with ten or more years experience on the workforce reported average earnings of more than $45,000 per year, which was the highest such figure in the state and one of the 20 best nationwide. MTI was also the most affordable institution among our best trade and vocational schools in South Dakota, charging students around $1,200 per year less than the statewide average.
What vocational programs MTI offers: Several different approaches to a career in agriculture are available here, and nearly all of them boast a 100 percent job placement rate. MTI offers Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees in agricultural business, agronomy, animal science, precision agriculture technology and the repair and maintenance of diesel-powered agricultural equipment.
Lake Area Technical Institute put up solid numbers in the student success categories of our analysis. This Watertown school had South Dakota's best rate of first-year student retention, reporting that more than 80 percent of students returned for the second year of their programs, and the graduation rate here was not only the best in the state but landed in the 90th percentile nationally.
What vocational programs LATI offers: Students hoping to make their living in the sky can enroll in the professional fixed-wing pilot program through the aviation annex at LATI, which also offers FAA-approved training in aviation maintenance technology. The building trades technology program can prepare you for a variety of construction jobs, from site preparation and framing to interior finishing and cabinetry.
If you're looking for online trade schools in South Dakota, Southeast Technical Institute should be on your list. Nearly 38 percent of students at the Sioux Falls school took at least some of their credits online in 2018. Southeast Tech also put up top-tier numbers for graduate success on the job market, reporting that more than 94 percent of former students remained employed for at least six years after finishing their programs.
What vocational programs Southeast Tech offers: Fully online programs available at Southeast Tech include associate degree programs in accounting, marketing, computer programming and healthcare leadership. More than a dozen certificates are available on campus, in such fields as computer network support, commercial construction, telecommunications tower technology and medical coding.
Western Dakota Technical Institute has the smallest student body of any school that made our list, and the close-knit learning environment here can be a blessing to students who like to study in peace and quiet. Fewer than 1,100 students attend classes here each semester, and the student-faculty ratio is a comfortable 12:1. It's also one of the top online trade schools in South Dakota by enrollment, reporting that around 34 percent of students take at least one course online.
What vocational programs Western Dakota Tech offers: Students who want to be the boots on the ground of the ecology movement can learn the ropes in an environmental engineering technology program. Numerous health sciences degrees are available as well, including registered nursing, paramedic and dental assisting.
How to Apply for Trade School Financial Aid in South Dakota
Financial aid can make a big difference in the affordability of a college-level training program, and eligible students may qualify for dozens of South Dakota scholarships and grants that can help take some of the weight of tuition and fees off their shoulders. If you're not sure how to apply for financial aid in South Dakota, there's one document that you'll want to know about before anything else.
Known formally as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the FAFSA is your key to a range of valuable federal aid programs like low-interest Stafford Loans and Pell Grant awards that don't need to be paid back. State-based South Dakota scholarships and other aid programs also typically require that applicants have a FAFSA on file, so be sure to fill yours out and turn it in as soon as possible.
You can check out our comprehensive financial aid guide for more information on the FAFSA and some general tips about how to apply for financial aid in South Dakota. Here's a quick description of a few of the South Dakota scholarships, grants and other aid programs that you might qualify for:
- Build Dakota Scholarship - This program offers full-ride scholarships to eligible students in high-demand career programs who commit to living and working in South Dakota for three years after graduation.
- Hagen-Harvey Scholarship - Enrolled members of American Indian tribes can qualify for up to four years of college funding, with a minimum of $1,000 for the first two years.
- South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship - Graduates of South Dakota high schools with strong academic records may qualify for $1,300 per year in financial assistance at the state's trade schools.
Resources for Vocational Students and Job Seekers in South Dakota
- Learn about the finer points of CTE in South Dakota at the career and technical education section of the South Dakota Department of Education site.
- Find out about the ways in which your trade school training can be used to give you a head start on advanced education at the articulation page of the South Dakota Board of Regents.
- Accreditation is a process by which the training offered at an institution is certified as meeting the standards of industry leaders and academic watchdog groups. Public technical schools in South Dakota earn their accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, while individual career programs may be accredited by national groups like the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) and the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP).
The South Dakota page at Advance CTE can provide some hard data about the impact that South Dakota CTE programs have been having on student success. Also check out the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) to learn about CTE policies and initiatives in your state and around the country.