Tanvi Govil, a Ph.D.
student in chemical and biological engineering at South Dakota Mines, is shown
here working in a lab.
Enrollment
at South
Dakota Mines is down
slightly this year with a headcount of 2,477 undergraduate students compared to
2,529 in fall 2019, a decrease of 52 students. The full time-time equivalent
number of students also decreased 5.4% from 2156.4 in 2019 to 2039.9 in 2020.
See more from
the South Dakota Board of Regents.
Many
institutions of higher education across the nation are struggling to maintain
enrollment amidst the global pandemic. The relatively steady numbers at South
Dakota Mines are a testament to the value of a Mines degree. The affordable
tuition, high job placement rate for graduates, and an average starting salary
of $66,500 ranks Mines as the best engineering school in the nation
for return on investment.
The demand for highly qualified Mines graduates is projected to continue.
“The
future scientists and engineers at South Dakota Mines are the problem solvers
of tomorrow. These students will help our nation overcome the types of
challenges we’re facing now,” says Mines President Jim Rankin.
South
Dakota Mines is a central part of technology-based economic growth in the Black
Hills region. The university is working alongside Elevate Rapid City, the
Sanford Underground Research Facility and Ellsworth Air Force Base to build an
economic ecosystem that is increasing the number of high-paying STEM jobs in
the area. Our fall 2020 Career Fair included 33 in-state companies,14 came from
the Black Hills area.
The
South Dakota Board of Regents, the governing body for state universities,
reports that enrollment numbers are down about 2.8% across the state’s six
public universities.