The Regents' Scholar Diploma has been awarded for many years by the state of South Dakota based on criteria established by the South Dakota Board of Regents. It is a commemorative certificate issued by the Board of Regents that says the student completed the Regents' Scholar curriculum. A high school administrator submits a list of students who qualify and the Board of Regents issues the certificates, which are often handed out at high school graduation ceremonies or awards night. The Regents' Scholar Program does not have funding tied to the award.
The South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship is a program that awards a $7,500 scholarship over four years to qualifying high school graduates, who complete the high school curriculum requirements established for the Opportunity Scholarship program and maintain certain academic standards. Eligibility is based on an application submitted to the South Dakota post-secondary institution by the student, along with an official high school transcript and verification of a minimum ACT score of 24 or SAT score where the sum of the verbal and mathematics scores is at least 1090 (testing before January 2016) or 1180 (testing after March 2016)