Dual Credit in South Dakota: the law behind it

The statute

SDCL § 13-28-37

Postsecondary enrollment, course credit, failing grade eliminates eligibility .

The wider door, and the one most families miss. Any student in grades nine through twelve may apply to a public university or technical college as a special student, with the institution setting its own admission standards and its own tuition rate. The student needs approval from the school district, or from the nonpublic or tribal school or alternative instruction provider, and on approval the work counts toward both a high school diploma and a postsecondary credential, with the grade appearing on the high school transcript. This is the section a ninth or tenth grader uses, at full tuition, because the subsidized program below does not reach them.

SDCL § 13-28-37.1

State subsidized high school dual credit program .

The section behind the price and the eligibility line. It establishes a subsidized program for grade eleven or twelve, leaves admission standards to the institution offering the credit, and requires participating institutions to report course availability, enrollment, and completion data to the Department of Education. The Board of Regents sets the dual credit rate at 43 percent of the undergraduate rate in effect on January 1 of the previous fiscal year, the student pays half of that and the state pays half, and a school district may pay any portion of the student’s share. The institution may not require any additional fees, though everything else about attending a college still belongs to the student. A failing grade or a late withdrawal without credit ends participation until the Board of Regents or the Board of Technical Education reinstates the student, and the program may not be used for remedial courses.

SL 2025, ch. 82

House Bill 1040, an Act to reduce the state’s contribution .

The amendment that changed what a family pays, printed with the old language struck through so the shift is visible on the page. Before it, the student paid 33.3 percent of the reduced rate and the state paid 66.7 percent. After it, each pays 50 percent. The bill was signed March 19, 2025, and it also loosened the reinstatement rule so a student who retakes and passes a failed or dropped course at their own expense can be let back into the program. Any South Dakota material quoting a one-third student share was written before this act.

Who pays, and under what authority

Board of Regents dual credit rates

South Dakota Board of Regents, Dual Credit .

The board’s own page on what the two programs cost. Concurrent credit, taught at the high school by a qualified high school teacher, is priced at $40 a credit hour. High school dual credit is described as a discount on an already reduced credit hour rate, and the page still describes the student share as one-third, which the 2025 amendment replaced with one-half. When this page and the statute disagree, the statute is the one that governs, and the campus awarding the credit is the place to confirm the dollar figure for the year in question.

Agency guidance

AAC Guideline 2.2.1.6.A

Board of Regents, High School Student Dual Enrollment Initial Eligibility Guidelines .

Where the entrance bar is written down, revised in November 2025 and issued under Board of Regents Policy 2.2.1.6. A junior qualifies with a 24 ACT composite or superscore, an 1180 SAT, upper-third class rank, or a 3.50 unweighted cumulative grade point average. A senior qualifies with a 21, an 1080, the upper half, or a 3.25. The guideline adds routes through the advanced honors endorsement coursework, Smarter Balanced level 3 in English and math, a PreACT composite of 24, and ACCUPLACER Next Generation scores taken together rather than mixed with other criteria. Home school students qualify on the same criteria minus class rank, provided the sponsoring parent has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Education. Students may enroll only in 100 and 200 level courses without special permission.

High School Dual Credit program guidance

Our Dakota Dreams, High School Dual Credit .

The state’s student-facing page, and the one that turns the guideline into dates. It carries the Board of Regents limit of 10 credits, roughly three courses, in a semester unless a student is approved for a waiver, and the application windows: November 1 for spring, March 1 for summer, April 1 for fall. It also states the transfer outcome that matters most inside the state, which is that dual credit taken through the public universities transfers to all six of them.

How it got here

The subsidized program was created by chapter 96 of the 2018 session laws and has been amended in most sessions since, in 2020, 2022, and 2025. The 2025 act, chapter 82, is the one a family feels: it moved the student share from a third of the reduced rate to a half. The older section, 13-28-37, reaches much further back, to chapter 122 of the 1990 session laws, and it still carries the grades nine through twelve special student route that sits outside the subsidy.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about South Dakota law rather than about one school or one campus. A district and a college can both be wrong about a state rule, and these pages are where the state's own position is published.

• South Dakota Board of Regents · Sets the dual credit tuition rate and rules on reinstatement after a failed course.
• Our Dakota Dreams, High School Dual Credit · The state portal where a student applies and reapplies each term.
• South Dakota Department of Education, home schooling · Holds the alternative instruction notification and the memorandum a home school family needs.
• South Dakota Legislature, codified law 13-28-37.1 · Where the subsidized program is published with its amendment history.

Frequently asked

Is there a South Dakota administrative rule for dual credit?

None turned up. Article 24:43 of the administrative rules is accreditation and school improvement, and its curriculum chapter covers graduation requirements rather than dual credit. The operating detail lives in Board of Regents policy and guidelines instead.

What changed in 2025?

Chapter 82 of the 2025 session laws, House Bill 1040, moved the student’s share of the reduced tuition rate from 33.3 percent to 50 percent and the state’s share from 66.7 percent to 50 percent. It was signed March 19, 2025.

Can our school district pay part of the cost?

Yes. Section 13-28-37.1 says a school district may pay any portion of the student’s share. The same sentence bars the college from requiring any additional fees, so the negotiable amount is the tuition share rather than a pile of add-ons.

What does the statute say about failing a course?

A student who receives a failing grade in any course, or withdraws after the deadline without credit, may no longer participate. The Board of Regents or the Board of Technical Education may reinstate a student who shows good cause, or who retakes and passes the course at their own expense.

Can a home school student take part?

Yes, if the sponsoring parent has a signed memorandum of understanding with the Department of Education. The Regents guideline lets home school students qualify on the same academic criteria as anyone else, leaving out class rank, which they have no way to produce.