2025 Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in South Dakota

Ranked #2 in popularity, nursing is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 2 schools in South Dakota to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of nursing. Combined, these schools handed out 39 master's degrees in nursing to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to nursing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other nursing students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt nursing students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Nursing Master's Degree Schools in South Dakota list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Nursing in South Dakota

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a a master's degree.

Top South Dakota Schools for a Master's in Nursing

1

Mount Marty University
Yankton, SD

16 Annual Graduates

$182,735 Median Starting Salary

Mount Marty University is a great choice for students pursuing a master's degree in nursing. Located in the remote town of Yankton, Mount Marty is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Nursing master's degree recipients from Mount Marty University get an earnings boost of around $39,698 above the typical income of nursing majors.

More information about a master’s in nursing from Mount Marty University

2

South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD

23 Annual Graduates

$103,339 Median Starting Salary

South Dakota State University is a great decision for students interested in a master's degree in nursing. Located in the town of Brookings, South Dakota State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the nursing program state that they receive average early career income of $103,339.

More information about a master’s in nursing from South Dakota State University

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	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	193	1,427
Minnesota	174	5,092
Iowa	154	317
Kansas	149	134
Nebraska	123	214
North Dakota	115	60

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	23
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	10
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	6

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Mental & Social Health Services	104
Allied Health Professions	42
Public Health	35
Communication Sciences	26
Health & Medical Administrative Services	8
Medical Illustration & Informatics	5
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	2

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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.