USD Among Nations Best in US News World Report Rankings
U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of South Dakota among the top national and public universities in its 2018 Best Colleges Ranking. USD tied for 129th place in the top public colleges category with Wayne State University and California State University - Fresno.
The U.S. News rankings methodology focuses on academic excellence, with schools evaluated on hundreds of data points and up to 15 measures of academic quality. Overall, the rankings emphasize student outcomes – such as graduation and freshman retention rates – which carry the most weight at 30 percent. The top National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges have significantly higher graduation and freshman retention rates than other schools.
Schools like USD in the National Universities category offer a full range of undergraduate majors as well as master's and doctoral programs. The colleges also are committed to producing groundbreaking research.