The South Dakota Board of Regents currently governs six public universities. Dakota Territorial Legislature founded the University of South Dakota first in 1862 although it did not accept students until 1882. USD officially earned accreditation in 1913 and has been an accredited institution continuously since that time. It hosts the state's only law and medical schools.
South Dakota State University began in 1881 as the Dakota Agricultural College, changing its name in 1964 to South Dakota State University to recognize its broader range of studies. South Dakota State is now the largest university in that state. Dakota State University was also founded in 1881 as Madison Normal School. It changed its name in 1969 to Dakota State College and in 1989 to Dakota State University after it began to offer postgraduate degrees. Other public colleges founded in the 1880s include Black Hills University in 1883 and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1885. Finally, Northern State University was founded in 1899, accepting its first students in 1902.
Three private universities exist in South Dakota, offering both bachelor's degrees and postgraduate degrees. The University of Sioux Falls (USF), the oldest private university in the state, began accepting students in 1883 as the Dakota Collegiate Institute and renamed itself the Sioux Falls College in 1885. It renamed itself the University of Sioux Falls in 1994 to reflect the addition of its postgraduate programs in business and education.
Soon after the founding of USF, a group of Methodist settlers founded Dakota Wesleyan University in 1885 in the city of Mitchell. Originally called Dakota University, it acquired its current name in 1904. The final private university is National American University, founded in 1941 as a one-year secretarial school called the National College of Business. The publicly-traded National American Holdings Corporation, based in Rapid City, owns the National American University in South Dakota as well as many others across the country.
The oldest private college in South Dakota is Augustana College, which began teaching students as the Augustana College and Seminary in 1860 in Chicago and moved to Canton, South Dakota, in 1888. In 1912 it merged with the Lutheran Normal School of Sioux Falls in 1918, with a combined campus in Sioux Falls. Later, the Catholic-affiliated Presentation College was founded in 1922 in Mitchell as Notre Dame Junior College. In 1951 the Presentation Sisters took control of the school. They renamed the college Presentation College and moved it to Aberdeen. It began offering four-year baccalaureate degrees in 1990. The college operates two satellite campuses, the first in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, and the second in Fairmont, Minnesota.
The final liberal arts college founded in South Dakota is the Catholic Mount Marty College of Yankton. Founded in 1936, it functioned as a junior college for women until 1951, when it began to offer bachelor's degrees. In 1969 the college began to admit men as well as women.
Sinte Gleska University was founded on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in 1970 as a private tribal college. Soon after, in 1971, the Oglala Lakota College opened in the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. Both Sinte Gleska and Oglala College were among the first tribal colleges in the country. Originally offering only two-year associate's degrees, both schools have expanded to offer both bachelor's and master's degrees.