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Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota

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2023 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota

4 Colleges
$57,601 Avg Salary
$21,889 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Nursing Associate Degree School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was the most popular one in South Dakota. In total, 1,022 people earned a degree or certificate in the field from a school in South Dakota.

It's not easy to decide which healthcare program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota ranking. This report analyzed 4 schools in South Dakota to see which ones offered the best associate degree programs for healthcare students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota

The following schools top our list of the Best Nursing Associate Degree Colleges.

Top South Dakota Schools for an Associate in Nursing

Our 2023 rankings named Lake Area Technical Institute the best school in South Dakota for nursing students working on their associate degree. LATI is a small public school located in the town of Watertown.

Read full report on Nursing at Lake Area Technical Institute

#2

Southeast Technical College

Sioux Falls, SD

The excellent associate degree programs at Southeast Technical College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in South Dakota. Southeast Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Sioux Falls.

The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Southeast Tech take out while working on their Associate Degree is $33,072.

Read More…

The excellent associate degree programs at Western Dakota Technical Institute helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in South Dakota. Western Dakota Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Rapid City.

Full Nursing at Western Dakota Technical Institute Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Oglala Lakota College is a great place for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the remote area of Kyle, Oglala Lakota College is a public college with a small student population.

Nursing majors at Oglala Lakota College take out an average of $11,529 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Nursing at Oglala Lakota College Report

Best Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Minnesota 14,890
Iowa 2,966
Missouri 6,840
Nebraska 1,908
Kansas 2,633
North Dakota 976

Nursing is one of 30 different types of healthcare programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 4 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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