Health and Physical Education/Fitness at University of South Dakota

Based on comparable programs across South Dakota, students entering this field should expect about $24,500 in debt for first-year earnings around $37,500—a debt-to-earnings ratio that's manageable but not exceptional. What complicates the picture here is that we're working entirely with estimates derived from peer programs in the state, since USD's actual graduate outcomes aren't reported due to small sample sizes. This makes it harder to know if this program specifically delivers better or worse results than its state peers.

The estimated earnings do exceed the national median for health and physical education programs by roughly $7,000, which reflects South Dakota's relatively strong market for education professionals. However, looking at reported outcomes from other South Dakota schools offering this major shows a significant spread—from $34,142 at Black Hills State to over $41,000 at South Dakota State. Where USD falls in that range matters enormously for return on investment, but we simply don't have that school-specific data.

For parents, this means you're evaluating a program with decent fundamentals based on state trends, but without the hard numbers that would confirm USD specifically prepares graduates as well as its competitors. If your child is set on this field and this school, the estimated debt load won't be crushing. But given the uncertainty and the fact that similar programs at SDSU and Northern State show stronger reported earnings, it's worth directly asking USD's career services office for graduate placement data they may track internally.