Bachelor's · Brookings, South Dakota

Is Mechanical Engineering at South Dakota State University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.6 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $75,670; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $94,205; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $23,410; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $82k (likely $82k – $107k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $55k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in SD; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.6 years (likely 2.2–3.2); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $272k (likely $176k – $375k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $927k (likely $716k – $1.17M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 62%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20