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University of South Dakota Law School Financial Aid & Grants

Vermillion, SD · ABA 509 disclosure, 2025 cycle · 55.0% of students receive grant aid

55.0%
Receive grant aid
$5,000
Median grant / year
7.0%
Full tuition or more
#179
of 196 by coverage

Mixed. No single band dominates.

Grant award distribution

The 509 requires schools to report where grant recipients fall across four bands. These are shares of students who received aid, not shares of all students.

BandShare of grant recipientsShare of all students
Half tuition or less36.0%19.8%derived: band share × coverage rate
Above half, below full12.0%6.6%derived: band share × coverage rate
Full tuition5.0%2.8%derived: band share × coverage rate
Above full tuition2.0%1.1%derived: band share × coverage rate
All grant recipients55.0%100%

Award size

25th percentile grant$590
Median grant (50th percentile)$5,000
75th percentile grant$10,000
Median grant as share of annual tuition41%in-state tuition $12,076

These are percentiles among grant recipients, not minimums and maximums. A 25th-percentile grant of $590 means a quarter of recipients received that much or less — the least award could be considerably lower.

What tuition looks like after the median grant

Annual in-state tuition$12,076
Median grant per year−$5,000
Remaining tuition after median aid$7,076

This is an optimistic floor rather than a real figure. The median grant only covers students who received aid — 45.0%of students received none — and it assumes the same award holds for all three years. Fees and housing are not included; add them from this school’s cost of attendance page.

Conditional scholarships

Entered with a conditional scholarship (2024)1 students
Retained in full after year one100.0%based on fewer than 15 students — too small a sample to rank
Reduced or eliminated0 students

Only 1 student entered with a conditional award, so this percentage reflects a handful of cases rather than a reliable rate. South Dakota is excluded from the retention ranking for that reason.

Tuition guarantee

South Dakota does not report a tuition guarantee. Published tuition for 2025-26 is $12,076 per year, and there is no reported commitment to hold it steady across your three years.

Where this school ranks

By grant aid coverage#179 of 196
By median grant amount#191 of 196
Aid profileMixed — No single band dominates

Check what you could get here

The figures above are this school's overall reported averages. To see where your scores land against its admitted class — which grant band you would fall into, and what three years would cost you after aid — use the University of South Dakota Law School scholarship calculator.

Related pages

Source: University of South Dakota Law School ABA Standard 509 Required Disclosure, 2025 reporting cycle. Grant figures describe full-time students in the most recently reported cohort, in dollars per year. Percentile shares of all students are derived from the band share and coverage rate and are not themselves disclosed. None of these figures is a financial aid offer; actual awards depend on your circumstances, the school’s policy and its aid budget that year. Not financial advice.