The South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship pays up to $7,500 over four years to South Dakota residents attending a participating in-state college, university, or technical school. Students qualify either with a 24+ ACT composite (or 1180+ SAT) plus a 3.0 high school GPA and an approved rigorous course of study, or with a 28+ ACT composite (or 1310+ SAT) alone, with no GPA or curriculum requirement under that path. Students apply through the South Dakota Board of Regents scholarship portal, generally by June 1 (preferred) or September 1 (final), within five years of graduating high school. Renewal requires a 3.0 cumulative college GPA and meeting yearly credit-hour benchmarks.
Eligibility
DemographicsSouth Dakota resident at graduation; must enroll within 5 years of high school graduation at a participating SD institution.
Applying
$1,500/year for years 1-3 and $3,000 in year 4, for a $7,500 total maximum, paid over two semesters per year