South Dakota
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
South Dakota at China’s rate would graduate 1,790 engineers a year. It graduates 730.
South Dakota produces 730 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 5,393 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 8 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 1,790. Output is growing (+1.2% over three years). Gap Score: 41% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 1,040 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 85% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
South Dakota is missing 1,060 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 3x the annual output of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
Where South Dakota’s engineers are made.
8 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in South Dakota. The top 8 account for 100% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology | 312 | 82.5% |
| 2 | Dakota State University | 218 | 59.8% |
| 3 | South Dakota State University | 155 | 8.4% |
| 4 | University of South Dakota | 18 | 1.6% |
| 5 | Augustana University | 13 | 3.5% |
| 6 | Oglala Lakota College | 6 | 11.7% |
| 7 | University of Sioux Falls | 5 | 1.5% |
| 8 | Northern State University | 2 | 0.8% |
Jobs vs. degrees
South Dakota's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 160 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 100 |
| Civil Engineers | 80 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 80 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators | 80 |
| Industrial Engineers | 60 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: South Dakota labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
South Dakota's defense and federal projects, after a $5B data center pulled out
South Dakota has no fab or battery plant. Its major projects are federal and defense: a $1.5B B-21 build-out at Ellsworth, a $90M state-and-donor cyber research push around Dakota State, and a new effort to make national security the state's 'next big industry'. Meanwhile lawmakers turned away data-center incentives in 2026 and the biggest private project left.
The drain.
South Dakota keeps most of its home-grown graduates but loses nearly three of four out-of-state graduates it educates, and its flagship engineering school sends most of its class elsewhere.
Sources: SD Board of Regents Factbook via KELOLAND; South Dakota Mines
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in South Dakota.
Extend Freedom Scholarship to engineering service
South Dakota already runs stay-or-repay aid: the Freedom Scholarship ($10M awarded, 3-year in-state work pledge, converts to a 4% loan if you leave) and Build Dakota for technical colleges. A Digital ROTC track would add a full-tuition, service-for-tuition option in engineering, CS and cyber at Southeast Tech, Lake Area Tech, Mitchell Tech, Western Dakota Tech and the regental universities, repaid by years at Ellsworth contractors, DARC or Sanford Health IT.
Tie GOED rebates to a pipeline count
The Board of Economic Development hands out Reinvestment Payment Program rebates (Tech Ord's $2.4M) and Future Fund grants (the $6M Defense Institute) on jobs and wages alone. Condition each award on funded seats and paid placements for South Dakota engineering students, so a defense-industry strategy is also an engineer-supply strategy.
Keep the out-of-state 73%
Nonresidents fill much of SD Mines and DSU, yet only 27% stay. A clearance-track service scholarship at Mines and DSU, sponsored by DARC and Ellsworth's B-21 contractors and forgiven with in-state service, would convert imported students into resident engineers.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In South Dakota, 17% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.