No Colleges in Pierre? (Sioux Falls, Brookings: high school, universities, living in)

[Stinger]

I am thinking about moving to Pierre, SD. I love the town and it has a decent population of about 14,000 people. I am shocked to see that in the Capital of the State there are no 4 year or even 2 year colleges! Does anybody know if this makes sense? or if so, what is the reason?

[golfgal]

When a lot of states were established the 'wealth' was spread to various towns, one town got state capital designation, one town got the state prison and one town got the state university system. Over the years many new colleges/universities have been added so this isn't always the case now but that is how a lot of states were set up in the 1800's.

The population in South Dakota hasn't really justified that many college/university campuses other then in Sioux Falls.

[Jammie]

That's a really good explanation, Golf and I never thought of that.

Another of the reasons may be that Yankton was the original capital of Dakota Territory and it was later moved to Pierre.

[Stinger]

Thanks for all the replies. As far as the justification for population goes I have seen many towns with population less than Pierre with atleast a community college. I guess my question is that what do people in towns like Pierre do in terms of higher education? Thanks

[Jammie]

Stinger, I never thought about that. I guess they just go to a different town until they get their degree. There are so many towns in SD that don't have colleges or tech schools. They just relocate to further their education.

[Stinger]

Thank you Jammie and everybody else. Its been very helpful. Well, either they move out of town or they go for online school. That is what I think I will end up doing too.

[Jammie]

Have you considered to moving to one of the towns in SD that has a college? If you're interested in the Black Hills area, they have a wonderful college out there. It's in Spearfish and it's called Black Hills State College. The town that I live in, Mitchell, also has a college and it's called Dakota Wesleyan University, but it's quite expensive. We also have a technical school called Mitchell Technical Institute. Brookings also has a state college. Sioux Falls has a college plus a Colorado Technical Institute. There are a few towns with colleges in them and if you don't have your heart set on Pierre and want more info, I'd be happy to try to help.

[Stinger]

I have been to Spearfish and stayed at the Travelodge there. I believe Black Hills State College was pretty close to it. I have also been to Mitchell and Yankton quite a few times. They are both wonderful little towns. I am moving to Pierre because thats where my work is. I wish Pierre had a college, but hey I can always enroll in some online school for now. No regrets. I would like to thank you again for all the help and efforts!

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Stinger

Thanks for all the replies. As far as the justification for population goes I have seen many towns with population less than Pierre with atleast a community college. I guess my question is that what do people in towns like Pierre do in terms of higher education? Thanks

While Pierre has an ok sized population, there is nothing around it to support a college campus. You have to remember that the state population is only about 500,000 people with about 150,000 of those people living in Sioux Falls. Compare that to say, Minnesota, where the population of Minneapolis/St. Paul is more then the entire state of South Dakota. I don't know for sure but a lot of the colleges and tech schools have outreach programs around the state so it is possible that there are some class opportunities in Pierre, maybe held at a high school or something similar.

[Stinger]

golfgal your guess was very close. Somebody told me today that there is an outreach program from a college at the local hospital and they might have a few classes to offer. Hospital hmm...well still worth checking out.