Dual Credit

In order to participate, students must be a qualifying junior or senior eligible to enroll at a high school in South Dakota. To qualify, students must meet one of the requirements listed under either Sections 1 (for juniors) & 2 (for seniors), OR all of the requirements under Section 3. Students not meeting the requirements in Sections 1-3 may take and meet the required scores for an exam listed under Section 4 to qualify for the program.

  1.  High school junior eligible to enroll in a high school in South Dakota who meets one of the following requirements:

              a.  earn an ACT composite score of 24 reflective of the 70% percentile; or

              b.  rank in upper one-third of their graduating class; or

​          c.  earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale;

  2. High school senior eligible to enroll in a high school in South Dakota who meets one of the following requirements:

             a.  earn an ACT composite score of 21 reflective of the 50% percentile; or

          b.  rank in the upper one-half of their graduating class; or

             c.  earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale;

  3.    High School junior or senior eligible to enroll in a high school in South Dakota who meets all of the following Undergraduate admissions requirements:

            a.   ACT score of 18 (or 21 for USD & SDSM&T); and

         b.   Successful completion of coursework Requirements

                   • Four Years of English

                   • Three years of advanced mathematics

                   • Three years of laboratory science

                   • Three years of social studies

                   • One year of fine arts

  4. Take one of the assessments below and meet the required score(s):

             a.  10th Grade ACT Aspire Summative Assessment – (Score 434 or higher)

                   Students may contact their high school for more information on the ACT Aspire Assessment.

             b.  ACCUPLACER Classic (Sentence Skills – Score 86 or higher AND Elementary Algebra – Score 76 or higher)

                   Students may contact a Dual Credit Campus Contact for more information on the ACCUPLACER Exam.

          c.  ACCUPLACER Next Generation (QAS (Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra & Statistics) - Score 255 or higher AND Writing - Score 263 or higher)

                   Students may contact a Dual Credit Campus Contact for more information on the ACCUPLACER Exam.

Continuing Enrollment Requirements

During the 2020 Legislative Session, changes were made to SDCL § 13-28-37.1 with regard to continuing eligibility in the High School Dual Credit program. Starting with grades earned during the Fall 2020 Semester, any student who fails or withdraws from a HSDC course will no longer be eligible for the program in future semesters, absent a showing of good cause. Students who earn a F or W grade and who wish to continue in the program must meet one of the three options below:

1. Show good cause by having a BOR GPA of 2.5 or higher, showing a prior record of success in the HSDC program (for BOR institutions only).

2. Show good cause by documenting extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student which contributed to the F or W grade(s). Good cause may include, but is not limited to: illness, injury, an illness or death in the family, or unusual academic circumstances.

3. Regain eligibility in the program by 1.) successfully repeating the course(s) in which the F or W grade(s) were earned, and 2.) paying the full HSDC tuition rate of $145 for the repeated course(s). This includes the portion of tuition typically paid by the state.

Students showing good cause through GPA will be automatically granted an exemption to continue in the program moving forward. Students who experienced extenuating circumstances, or who wish to repeat the course(s) in which the F or W grade was earned at the full HSDC tuition rate to regain program eligibility must fill out an Eligibility Exemption form and submit it to the campus indicated on the form for the student's circumstances. A list of campus contacts for BOR institutions can be found here​, & BOTE institution contacts are available on SDMyLife.

Important Dates

August 21 – First Day of Classes

August 31 – Last day to drop/add a Dual Credit course (full refund)

September 1 – W grade begins

September 1 – Full payment due

October 16 – Midterm

November 27 – Last day to drop and receive a W grade (no refund)

December 13- Last Day of Fall Semester Classes

January 8 - First Day of Classes

January 17 - Last day to drop/add a Dual Credit course (full refund)

January 18 - Full payment due

March 1 - Midterm

April 2 - Last day to drop and receive a W grade (no refund)

May 10- Last day of Spring Semester Classes

Click on each college to see dual credit dates.

Lake Area College Schedule

Mitchell Technical College Schedule

 Classes start 8/21/2023

 Southeast Technical College Schedule