What are the required Critical Need Occupations?

The Dakota Corps Scholarship Program was created to encourage South Dakota's High School Graduates to obtain their post secondary education in South Dakota, remain in the state upon completion of their education and contribute to the state of South Dakota and its citizens by working in a critical need occupation.

Students who are awarded the scholarship must agree to work in South Dakota in one of the below critical need occupations for every year they receive funding plus one year. The Critical Need Occupations for the 2026-2027 cohort are below:

Critical Need Occupations

Teaching -- K-12		Teaching -- Secondary
	Special Education		Math
	Foreign Language		Science
	Vocal or Instrumental Music		Language Arts
	English as a Second Language (ESL) or English Language Learners (ELL)		Career and Technical Education
Accountant / Auditor Careers include: Budget Analysts, Credit Analysts, Financial Managers, Financial Analysts The careers listed above are examples and are not intended to represent the complete list of qualifying careers within this critical-need area. US Bureau of Labor Statistics - SOC 11 and SOC 13 codes within Finance Career Cluster
Engineer: (all areas EXCEPT: mining, chemical, biomedical, and computer hardware)
Information Technology Careers include: Computer Information Research Scientists, Computer System Analysts, Computer Programmers, Web Developers, Software Developers-Applications, Software Developers-Systems Software The careers listed above are examples and are not intended to represent the complete list of qualifying careers within this critical-need area. US Bureau of Labor Statistics - all SOC 15 codes
Registered Nurse

Because specific majors can vary from campus to campus, the Dakota Corps Scholarship does not require that students pursue a specific Major to be eligible for the scholarship, however, we do check that the major is one that would set the student up to work in one of the critical need occupations once they graduate.

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