SDSU shatters enrollment records, climbs to more than 12,000 students

A record first-year class and record retention moved enrollment at South Dakota State University to 12,065 students for the fall 2024 semester, the highest enrollment at SDSU since 2018. Enrollment figures were released earlier today by the South Dakota Board of Regents. 

The incoming first-year student class of 2,449 is the largest in the history of SDSU, breaking the previous mark of 2,306 set in 2013 and surpassing last year’s class by 7.6%. Additionally, retention of students from their first year to their second year stood at 83.8%, breaking last year’s record by almost one percentage point and marking the fourth time in five years retention at SDSU has been at 80% or higher. 

Overall enrollment at SDSU is up 4.9%, with 560 more students than last year. 

“We are very pleased with this year’s enrollment numbers and the fact that SDSU is a university of choice for so many students,” SDSU President Barry Dunn said. “We continue to strategically expand and grow our university in ways that support the workforce of our state while continuing to serve our land-grant mission of providing the benefits of higher education to the people and communities of South Dakota.” 

First-year students from South Dakota grew 7.4% from last year to 1,237. Students from the Sioux Falls metro area also increased 10%, drawing nearly 400 students from the area. According to the BOR Fact Book, more than 42% of first-year students who enrolled in Board of Regents institutions the past two years came to SDSU, a percentage likely to maintain or potentially grow with this year’s class. 

“South Dakota students continue to recognize the great value SDSU provides them and the opportunities available as they explore and find the majors and educational pathways they are most passionate about,” Dunn said. “The growth from the Sioux Falls metro area is certainly important and validates the efforts we have made to connect with education, industry and civic leaders over the past few years to strengthen the relationship between the state’s largest, most comprehensive university and South Dakota’s largest community.” 

SDSU’s efforts to elevate the institution to achieve designation as an R1 Research University by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is already producing positive results as doctoral research Ph.D. candidates increased 13.1% to 268 students. 

“The work being done on ‘R1 Our Way’ is not only providing us a roadmap for elevating SDSU to be an R1 institution, but it is also attracting some of the best and brightest from around the world who want to bring their grants and research projects to SDSU,” Dunn said. “We are excited about the future of our research and can only anticipate positive growth in this area as the university continues to advance its research portfolio.” 

International student enrollment also increased by 17.7% to 826 students, with undergraduate international students seeing a significant increase of 30.3% and graduate international students still growing by 7.8%. 

Students came to SDSU this year from 77 different countries and 47 states. Overall credit hours increased by 5,978, moving total credit hours to 142,812. 

“The students attending SDSU today will be the leaders and innovators of tomorrow and accomplish amazing things throughout their professional and personal lives,” Dunn said. “We are excited to have welcomed them from around the state, the region and the world as they learn and grow during such an important time in their lives. It is a privilege to help and guide them along this journey.”