Bachelor's · Spearfish, South Dakota

Is Community Organization and Advocacy at Black Hills State University worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 14.7 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $42,334; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $45,952; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $29,288; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $82k (likely $82k – $112k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $7k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in SD; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 14.7 years (likely 8.2–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$207k (likely −$300k – −$129k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$119k (likely −$259k – $36k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 42%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26