Vermillion, South Dakota

University of South Dakota

Accreditation: ABA approved since 1923
Institution type: Public
J.D. formats: Full-time J.D.
Website: Official website (opens in a new tab)

Median LSAT: 152; Fall 2025 entering class
Median GPA: 3.47; Fall 2025 entering class
Resident tuition: $12,076; Full-time, 2025-2026
First-year class: 88; Enrolled fall 2025
Bar-required jobs: 78%; Class of 2025, full-time long-term
First-time bar passage: 69.2%; 2025 graduates

Latest verified values from ABA required disclosures. Each dataset describes a different class, as labelled. The job share is PreLaw Advisor’s arithmetic (full-time, long-term bar-passage-required positions ÷ total graduates), not an ABA-published figure.

Tuition & mandatory fees — 2025-2026

Source

Organization: American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document: ABA Standard 509 compilation — Tuitions and Fees/Living Expenses/Cond. Scholarships (2025)
Covers: Report year 2025
Retrieved: Sep 23, 2026
Status: Verified · Sep 23, 2026

Open official source

Tuition and fees by program and residency
Program	Tuition	Fees
Full-time · resident	$12,076	$5,037
Full-time · nonresident	$32,184	$5,037
Part-time · per credit (resident)	$402	$4,193

Living expenses (school estimates)

Source

Organization: American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document: ABA Standard 509 compilation — Tuitions and Fees/Living Expenses/Cond. Scholarships (2025)
Covers: Report year 2025
Retrieved: Sep 23, 2026
Status: Verified · Sep 23, 2026

Open official source

Living on campus$16,452
Living off campus$18,034
Living at home$10,774
Living on a military base$11,702

Annual estimates for single students, as reported by the school. Books, transportation and insurance are not itemized in ABA disclosures.

Estimated annual cost (calculation)

Tuition$12,076
Mandatory fees$5,037
Living expenses (off campus, school estimate)$18,034

PreLaw Advisor total$35,147

Sum of the school-published figures above. It is not the school’s official cost of attendance and assumes no scholarship.

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Grants & scholarships (2025–2026 students)

Source

Organization: American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document: ABA Standard 509 compilation — Grants and Scholarships (2025)
Covers: Report year 2025
Retrieved: Sep 23, 2026
Status: Verified · Sep 23, 2026

Open official source

Grant recipients and amounts
Measure	All	Full-time	Part-time
Total students	253	253	Not applicable
Receiving grants	139	139	Not applicable
% receiving grants	55%	55%	Not applicable
Less than half tuition	90	90	Not applicable
Half to full tuition	31	31	Not applicable
Full tuition	13	13	Not applicable
More than full tuition	5	5	Not applicable
25th percentile grant	Not applicable	$590	Not applicable
Median grant	Not applicable	$5,000	Not applicable
75th percentile grant	Not applicable	$10,000	Not applicable

The ABA publishes grant percentiles by full-time/part-time status only. These describe past awards; they do not indicate what any applicant will receive.

Conditional scholarships

Source

Organization: American Bar Association, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
Document: ABA Standard 509 compilation — Tuitions and Fees/Living Expenses/Cond. Scholarships (2025)
Covers: Report year 2025
Retrieved: Sep 23, 2026
Status: Verified · Sep 23, 2026

Open official source

The school reports offering conditional scholarships (awards that can be reduced or eliminated, e.g. for grades).

Entering 2024-20251 received · 0 reduced or eliminated
Entering 2023-20241 received · 0 reduced or eliminated
Entering 2022-20231 received · 0 reduced or eliminated

Figures are School reported to the ABA under Standard 509.