College Viability Inspection Report

University of Sioux Falls

South Dakota · Private, not-for-profit

University of Sioux Falls is a private, nonprofit institution in South Dakota, enrolling 1,226 students as of 2024. It graduates 47% of students in four years, returns 74% of freshmen for a second year, and costs an average of $21,385 a year after grants and scholarships. Of the 9 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 5 are flagged: Retention, Graduation, Equity Gap, Enrollment, and Endowment. This report benchmarks University of Sioux Falls's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.

University of Sioux Falls Inspection Flags

Student Outcomes
Financial Health
Value for Your Money

Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.

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College Viability
Data Summary

University of Sioux Falls — All Reported Indicators

Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for University of Sioux Falls. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.

Student Outcomes

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Four-Year Graduation Rate47.0%+62.1%60th
Six-Year Graduation Rate59.0%+28.3%57th
Full-Time Retention Rate74.0%-6.3%41st
Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate55.4%+9.3%64th
Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap10.0pp+27.9%55th
Pell Share of Cohort34.2%+20.6%41st

Financial Health

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Revenue-to-Expense Ratio1.11×+12.3%60th
Total FTE Enrollment1,226-6.6%42nd
Endowment Value$37.8M+27.2%43rd
Net Assets (End of Year)$74.4M+24.3%45th

Value for Money

Metric2024 Value5-Yr % ChangeNational Percentile
Instructional Spending %29.5%-8.7%34th
Student Support Spending %31.8%+8.7%97th
Administrative Spending %20.3%+0.7%59th
Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio3.01×-1.1%58th
Average Net Price$21,385-2.0%60th
Net Price: $0-30K Income$18,145+4.0%69th
Net Price: $30K-48K Income$17,804-2.6%67th
Net Price: $48-75K Income$17,992-14.3%59th
Net Price: $75K-110K Income$21,375-1.6%56th
Net Price: $110K+ Income$24,038-0.6%45th

Inspection Flags

FlagSectionStatus
Retention Below 80%
University of Sioux Falls's retention rate fell below 80% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50%
University of Sioux Falls's 4-year graduation rate fell below 50% in 5 of 5 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points
University of Sioux Falls's Pell graduation gap exceeded 10 percentage points in 3 of 5 eligible years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold.
Student OutcomesTriggered
Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0
University of Sioux Falls's ratio fell below 1.0 in 1 of 5 reported years — below the 3-of-5 trigger threshold.
Financial HealthCleared
Enrollment Declined 5% or More
University of Sioux Falls's total enrollment fell from 1,313 to 1,226 students between 2020 and 2024 (-6.6%) — a decline of 5% or more.
Financial HealthTriggered
Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15%
University of Sioux Falls's endowment is $37.8M, under the $50 million threshold. A smaller endowment leaves less cushion for scholarships and for tough budget years, even though it grew +27.2% over the period.
Financial HealthTriggered
High Cost, Low Completion
University of Sioux Falls costs more than the national median but also graduates students at above-median rates — only one of two conditions is met.
Value for MoneyCleared
Spending on Students Below the National Median
University of Sioux Falls spends $3.01 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin in 2024 — at or above the national median of $2.75 in every reported year.
Value for MoneyCleared
Rising Price, Falling Outcomes
Either net price did not rise or the graduation rate did not decline between 2020 and 2024 — flag not triggered.
Value for MoneyCleared