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Earn up to $7,500 toward college in South Dakota.
The South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship (SDOS) awards up to $7,500 to eligible South Dakota students attending participating public or private universities and technical colleges in South Dakota. Students who meet the eligibility requirements and apply on time are generally awarded the scholarship.
If you can answer “Yes” to most of these questions, you’re on the right track.
There are two paths that students can take to meet initial eligibility requirements for the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship.
Students qualifying through Option 1 must complete the required SDOS coursework with a “C” or higher in every required course.
The required coursework for the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship aligns exactly with South Dakota’s Advanced Honors Endorsement.
To be eligible for the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship, students must attend a participating university, college, or technical school that is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and offers instruction on a campus located in South Dakota.
• Black Hills State University
• Dakota State University
• Northern State University
• South Dakota Mines
• South Dakota State University
• University of South Dakota
• Augustana University
• Dakota Wesleyan University
• Mount Marty University
• University of Sioux Falls
• Lake Area Technical College
• Mitchell Technical College
• Southeast Technical College
• Western Dakota Technical College
The South Dakota Board of Regents (SDBOR) oversees the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship in accordance with SDCL 13-55-30. All official rules and guidelines for the scholarship are available on the South Dakota Board of Regents’ website and are based on South Dakota Codified Law and Administrative Rules. Our Dakota Dreams program relies on the official information provided on the SDBOR website.
Once awarded, students must meet certain continuing eligibility requirements, or the scholarship renewal award is cancelled. In order to maintain scholarship eligibility, college students must:
Students are eligible to participate in the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship program for up to four academic years (eight consecutive fall and spring terms) or until they earn a bachelor’s degree, whichever comes first. At the start of the fall semester, half of the annual opportunity scholarship is awarded to recipients. The remaining half is paid at the beginning of the spring semester. The examples below illustrate standard award distributions and the timing of ongoing eligibility checks for students beginning college in either the fall or spring semesters.
Students wishing to apply for the SD Opportunity Scholarship will login to the South Dakota Board of Regents Scholarship Portal at sdbor.edu/scholarships.
If a student has a South Dakota public university* email address because they participated in High School Dual Credit or are an enrolled student, they will log in using that email as their username.
If they do not have a public university email, they will need to create a manual account.
Login to the SDBOR Scholarship Portal
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