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School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
Augustana University is a private Lutheran university in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, pairing liberal-arts breadth with strong pre-professional programs on a close-knit residential campus in the state's largest city.
Academics
Nursing, education, and the sciences are established strengths, and Augustana has a long-standing, well-regarded choral and music program that draws students well beyond music majors, with ensembles that have toured nationally and internationally. The core curriculum keeps a liberal-arts foundation under pre-professional majors, and class sizes stay small enough for close faculty contact.
Campus & student life
The campus is residential and self-contained despite sitting inside Sioux Falls, giving students access to a genuine small city's healthcare and financial-sector employers without losing a traditional-college feel. Lutheran heritage is present but not enforced; chapel and religious life are available rather than mandatory. Athletics compete at the Division II level.
Getting in
Augustana's process is holistic, weighing essays and activities alongside coursework, and the university is known for generous merit consideration relative to its size.
After graduation
Sioux Falls's healthcare and financial-services economy absorbs many graduates directly out of nursing and business, and Augustana's alumni network is dense within South Dakota and the broader upper Midwest.
Worth knowing
The choral program's reputation is a real draw for music-minded students who aren't necessarily choosing Augustana for conservatory training, and Sioux Falls itself, larger and more economically active than its Great Plains location might suggest, is part of the school's practical appeal.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
augie.edu ↗High school coursework
RequiredHigh school diploma with a recommended GPA of 2.7 or higher (4.0 scale); ACT composite of 20 or SAT of 1030 if submitting scores (test-optional admission also available); no specific high school course pattern published
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