State profile · SD · Clery Act
South Dakota Campus Safety
According to the U.S. Department of Education's Clery Act filings, this covers on-campus safety for all 21 tracked colleges and universities in South Dakota, ranked by reported incident rate per 1,000 enrolled students.
- 21
- Institutions tracked
- 1.52
- Avg incidents / 1k
- #15
- State safety rank
- 50,589
- Students enrolled
Data updated June 2026
The state in one line
Across South Dakota's 21 campuses, Dakota Wesleyan University reports the lowest rate (0.00 per 1,000), the median campus reports 0.88, and 8 campuses reported zero on-campus incidents.
- 21
- campuses tracked
- 1.52
- statewide avg, per 1,000
- 0.00
- safest - Dakota Wesleyan University
- 8
- campuses reporting zero
Per-1,000-student rates let small and large campuses be compared fairly, but a handful of reports at a small school can still produce a high rate. Read alongside enrollment.
South Dakota reports Clery Act campus safety data across 21 higher education institutions distributed across 13 cities , serving approximately 50,589 enrolled students combined. The statewide average safety score stands at 1.52 on-campus incidents per 1,000 enrolled students, placing South Dakota at national rank #15 among US states for campus safety outcomes. The median institution in South Dakota reports 0.88 incidents per 1,000 students, while 8 campuses reported zero on-campus incidents during the survey window.
The largest institution by enrollment is South Dakota State University with 11,498 students and a safety score of 2.09. Raw incident counts across institutions in this state must be interpreted alongside enrollment size, a large urban research university and a small rural liberal arts college produce very different absolute numbers for identical underlying risk.
Every institution listed below participates in federal financial aid programs and is therefore legally required under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act to publish annual on-campus crime statistics. The data is collected by the US Department of Education via the OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey. Rankings shown on this page reflect incident rates per 1,000 enrolled students, so smaller schools with a handful of reports can score worse than large universities with dozens of reports. Use the table below to compare campuses with similar enrollment profiles before drawing conclusions about relative safety.
South Dakota campuses, ranked by safety
| # | Campus | Enrollment | Incidents /1k |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakota Wesleyan University Mitchell · 886 students | 886 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #1 |
| 2 | Lake Area Technical College Watertown · 2,179 students | 2,179 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #2 |
| 3 | Kairos University Sioux Falls · 1,105 students | 1,105 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #3 |
| 4 | Oglala Lakota College Kyle · 1,229 students | 1,229 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #4 |
| 5 | Sinte Gleska University Mission · 683 students | 683 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #5 |
| 6 | Dakota State University Madison · 3,508 students | 3,508 | 0.57 6% of the leader · rank #6 |
| 7 | Southeast Technical College Sioux Falls · 2,478 students | 2,478 | 0.81 9% of the leader · rank #7 |
| 8 | Mitchell Technical College Mitchell · 1,132 students | 1,132 | 0.88 9% of the leader · rank #8 |
| 9 | Western Dakota Technical College Rapid City · 1,047 students | 1,047 | 0.96 10% of the leader · rank #9 |
| 10 | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Rapid City · 2,492 students | 2,492 | 1.20 13% of the leader · rank #10 |
| 11 | Black Hills State University Spearfish · 3,475 students | 3,475 | 1.44 15% of the leader · rank #11 |
| 12 | Mount Marty University Yankton · 1,314 students | 1,314 | 1.52 16% of the leader · rank #12 |
| 13 | Northern State University Aberdeen · 3,521 students | 3,521 | 1.99 21% of the leader · rank #13 |
| 14 | South Dakota State University Brookings · 11,498 students | 11,498 | 2.09 22% of the leader · rank #14 |
| 15 | University of South Dakota Vermillion · 9,868 students | 9,868 | 2.33 25% of the leader · rank #15 |
| 16 | University of Sioux Falls Sioux Falls · 1,509 students | 1,509 | 3.31 36% of the leader · rank #16 |
| 17 | Augustana University Sioux Falls · 2,158 students | 2,158 | 5.56 60% of the leader · rank #17 |
| 18 | Paul Mitchell the School-Rapid City Rapid City · 79 students | 79 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #18 |
| 19 | Sisseton Wahpeton College Agency Village · 215 students | 215 | 9.30 100% of the leader · rank #19 |
| 20 | Stewart School Sioux Falls · 148 students | 148 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #20 |
| 21 | The Salon Professional Academy Rapid City · 65 students | 65 | 0.00 4% of the leader · rank #21 |
Related
What this means for you
Use South Dakota's list as a starting point for comparison, not a final judgment on any one campus.
- Weigh a South Dakota campus against similarly-sized institutions, scale changes what a raw count means. Compare campuses
- See Dakota Wesleyan University's full profile and how its rate breaks down by incident category. View Dakota Wesleyan University
- National rankings put this state in context against every other state. National rankings
Figures reflect the June 2026 Clery Act reporting release as filed with the U.S. Department of Education.
Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal Clery Act source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.
PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.