Utah State University (USU) vs South Dakota State University (SDSU)

Utah State University and South Dakota State University, both public land-grant research universities, offer distinct educational experiences. Utah State, located in Logan, Utah, boasts a higher acceptance rate (84%) compared to South Dakota State's 80%. With a larger student body, Utah State offers a wider range of undergraduate programs, including popular majors like engineering, business, and nursing. South Dakota State, situated in Brookings, South Dakota, excels in agriculture-related fields and boasts a higher graduation rate (68%) than Utah State's 63%. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to delve into further details, such as student demographics, costs, and campus life, to determine which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	South Dakota State University	Utah State University
Overview
Location	Brookings, South Dakota	Logan, Utah
Campus setting	Town: Remote	City: Small
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	80.0%	74.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	87.4%	92.6%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $20 Graduate: $35	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $55
SAT range	980 - 1220	1080 - 1310
ACT range	19 - 25	21 - 29
Students submitting SAT score	3.0%	13.0%
Students submitting ACT score	86.0%	79.0%
Total number of applicants	5,774	15,567
Total number of admissions given out	5,048	14,420
Admitted students who chose to enroll	2,019	4,223
Yield rate	40.0%	29.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $24,304 Out of state: $27,814	In state: $22,168 Out of state: $37,288
Average net price	$17,859	$14,529
Tuition	In state: $7,773 Out of state: $11,283	In state: $8,042 Out of state: $23,162
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $4,054 Meal plan: $4,082	Room/dormitory: $2,410 Meal plan: $3,630
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	81.0% Average amount $4,747	86.0% Average amount $9,802
Students receiving federal student loan	60.0% Average amount $5,063	19.0% Average amount $4,808
Students taking out private loans	17.0% Average amount $9,956	2.0% Average amount $13,673

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,847 Men 45.2% Women 54.8%	24,255 Men 44.3% Women 55.7%
Graduate students	1,618 Men 37.3% Women 62.7%	3,171 Men 43.7% Women 56.3%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Very Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	29.5%
International students	5.1%	1.4%
Campus local/setting	Town: Remote	City: Small
Dormitory capacity	4,488	3,125
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	Utah Idaho California Colorado Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Engineering Family and Consumer Sciences Education Agriculture	Liberal Arts Business Health Professions Social Sciences Education
Students to faculty ratio	17:1	21:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Outcome
Graduation rate	59.5%	55.8%
Dropout rate	38.9%	42.1%
Transferred out	N/A	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $110,688 Year 2: $117,014 Year 3: $126,250 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $92,277 Year 3: $114,802 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $53,967 Year 2: $74,845 Year 3: $81,032 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,229 Year 2: $61,322 Year 3: $70,114 Civil Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,268 Year 2: $59,124 Year 3: $62,932 Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,985 Year 2: $56,234 Year 3: $61,104 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,372 Year 2: $57,860 Year 3: $60,463 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $57,551 Year 2: $56,776 Year 3: $59,988 Plant Sciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $50,213 Year 2: $55,151 Year 3: $55,715 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $43,798 Year 3: $54,439	Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $76,930 Year 3: $91,309 Human Resources Management and Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $79,921 Year 2: $72,587 Year 3: $83,986 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $82,635 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $80,718 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $65,903 Year 2: $69,338 Year 3: $78,293 Information Science/Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $68,345 Year 2: $64,990 Year 3: $75,576 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $65,935 Year 2: $63,501 Year 3: $75,056 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $55,303 Year 2: $58,334 Year 3: $72,352 Civil Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $59,967 Year 2: $62,012 Year 3: $71,503 Air Transportation (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $35,228 Year 2: $35,416 Year 3: $70,839 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,717 Year 2: $61,728 Year 3: $69,682

Compare Similar Colleges

The list of suggested college comparisons provided below is generated automatically by our system, utilizing statistics gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and various online sources. If you don't find the colleges you wish to compare, please visit our comparison page. There, you can search for the specific colleges and initiate your comparison.