University of South Dakota (USD) is a public flagship research university based in Vermillion, South Dakota. USD is South Dakota’s flagship public university, the state’s designated public liberal arts university, and home to South Dakota’s only law and medical schools. Its academic portfolio spans liberal arts, business, education, health, sciences, fine arts, law, and medicine. The institution traces its development to 1862, and its present academic identity reflects a long pattern of growth rather than a single modern expansion. The first Dakota Territorial Legislature authorized a university in Vermillion in 1862, making USD the oldest postsecondary institution in the Dakotas. Classes began two decades later, and the university subsequently added law, medicine, graduate study, business, fine arts, and other professional programs. Academically, USD supports a broad mix of undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, certificate, and interdisciplinary study. Representative undergraduate choices include Biology BS, Business Administration BBA, Computer Science BS, Health Sciences BS, Medical Biology BS, Nursing BSN. Graduate study includes options such as Business Administration MBA, Computer Science MS, History MA, Public Administration MPA, Social Work MSW, while doctoral education extends into fields including Biomedical Engineering PhD, Basic Biomedical Sciences PhD, Counseling Psychology PhD, English PhD. Research spans biomedical science, neuroscience, health, rural health, sustainability, business, public policy, psychology, education, humanities, and social sciences. Professional schools create additional research and clinical connections with South Dakota healthcare and legal institutions. Vermillion provides a traditional college-town setting, while programs and clinical partnerships extend into Sioux Falls and other communities. Students can combine liberal-arts study with professional education, research, internships, service, athletics, and creative work. For current cost planning, For 2026–27, USD’s published full-time undergraduate cost-of-attendance estimate for 15 credits per term is $26,803 for a South Dakota resident living on campus and $30,502 for a nonresident living on campus. These figures include direct and indirect educational expenses, so actual billed tuition and fees are lower and vary by enrollment and program. These published amounts are planning figures and can change with residency, program, credit load, housing, insurance, or board action at University of South Dakota, where representative academic pathways at the university include Biology BS and Business Administration BBA. Undergraduate applicants follow USD’s admissions process and submit required academic records. Professional programs in law, medicine, health, and other fields use additional admission processes, while graduate requirements differ by program. Career preparation spans healthcare, law, government, education, business, finance, nonprofit work, science, research, media, and public service across South Dakota and the Upper Midwest. Taken together, University of South Dakota is best understood as an institution whose academic portfolio, research mission, student support, and regional setting are closely connected. USD also uses certificates, accelerated pathways, online options, and other nontraditional formats to extend selected academic areas beyond the standard four-year or graduate sequence. The university’s location in Vermillion gives students access to the civic, research, cultural, health, business, and public-sector networks that shape its surrounding region.