South Dakota College Scholarships

In South Dakota, the prevalence of rural living and industry has made it less popular for students to attend college in the past. Today, though, instead of taking over the family business, more and more high school graduates are opting to pursue a higher education in some other field of work. In order to assist these students in affording their aspirations, South Dakota scholarships have been developed with a wide variety of criteria so that most anyone will qualify for one offering or another.

The South Dakota Board of Regents is responsible for the disbursal of South Dakota scholarships. The SD Department of Education partners with this body to provide the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarships, which are provided to individuals who have completed the Regents Scholar curriculum with a competitive GPA. Students must also have exceptional ACT scores and be pursuing a degree at a state institute in order to receive up to $5000 in awards.

The Dakota Corps Scholarship Program tries to make attending school in the state attractive in hopes of retaining fine minds. Students who decide to pursue a ‘critical need occupation' and maintain a GPA of at least 2.8, as well as obtain impressive ACT scores, will be considered for the scholarship. While the funding may cover the entire cost of tuition, it is only complete once the student agrees to serve in an area of great need within South Dakota after graduation.

The Ardell Bjugstad Scholarship is for Native American residents of the state of South Dakota and is offered to those who are in pursuit of a degree related to agriculture or natural resource management.

List of South Dakota Scholarships

• Agriculture Scholarships — $600 awarded each year to 81 freshmen and sophomore undergraduate students attending South Dakota or other select state college majoring in agriculture.


• Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation Scholarship — Up to $2500 awarded each year to varied number of undergraduate students who are South Dakota or other select state residents.


• Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship-South Dakota — $1500 awarded each year to up to 20 freshmen undergraduate students attending a South Dakota college.


• South Dakota Board of Regents Marlin R. Scarborough Memorial Scholarship — $1500 awarded each year to one junior undergraduate student attending a South Dakota college.


• Vincent L. Hawkinson Scholarship for Peace and Justice — $500 to $1500 awarded each year to 1-6 freshmen undergraduate and graduate students attending South Dakota or other select state college.


• Young Artist Competition — $500 to $5000 awarded each year to 9-14 undergraduate students attending South Dakota or other select state college.

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Paying for school is not easy, but we are here to help. OEDb's student finance section will help you find the money you need to pay your tuition and other college expenses. We cover scholarships, college grants, and student loans. Scholarships and grants are both forms of "free money", meaning they don't need to be paid back. Scholarships are typically awarded by businesses or individuals, with the money being earmarked specifically for tuition. They can be awarded based on a student's location or by religious affiliation, such as Catholicism or Islam. Grants are typically awarded by governments or non-profit organizations and the money often can be applied to several different expenses a student may incur, not solely tuition. They can be awarded based on location or ethnicity, for instance African American or Hispanic. Loans are not considered "free money", because unlike scholarships and grants, they do need to be paid back after graduation. Common federal loans include Perkins and Stafford. Loans are also available by location.