Dakota Corps Scholarship - Board Member Information

Dakota Corps Scholarship - ABOUT

The Dakota Corps Scholarship, for students entering post-secondary in the coming year, provides full tuition and generally applicable fees to selected qualified applicants seeking degrees that will set them up to work in a critical need occupation following graduation.

HISTORY

The Dakota Corps Scholarship Program was created by Governor Rounds 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

• Contribute to the state of South Dakota and its citizens by working in a critical need occupation

ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING

• The Dakota Corps Scholarship Program is funded by private businesses, non-profit corporations, and the Governor's Office. 

• The Dakota Corps Scholarship Board, a Board appointed by the governor, selects the scholarship recipients.

• As of June 2011, the program is administered by the South Dakota Board of Regents, governing board of SD's public university system.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the Dakota Corps Scholarship students must:

• Have graduated from an accredited South Dakota high school with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.8 or greater on a 4.0 scale. Home schooled students will be allowed to provide supplemental information to qualify if the information for this requirement is not available.

• Have 27 ACT Composite or Super Score or greater (or the SAT equivalent).

• Agree in writing to stay in South Dakota and work in a critical need occupation after graduation for as many years as the scholarship was received plus one year.

• Apply for the Dakota Corps Scholarship for a school period that begins within one year of high school graduation, or within one year of release from active duty of an active component of the armed forces.

• Be an incoming freshman at a participating South Dakota college as an undergraduate student in a program that will prepare the student to work in a critical need occupation.

• Be a U.S. citizen or national

The current critical need areas are:

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, students log into the SD BOR Scholarship Portal and complete the online Dakota Corps Scholarship application.  This application is reviewed annually by the Dakota Corps Scholarship Board. 

ACCEPTING THE SCHOLARSHIP

Students will: 

• Agree to enroll full time as an undergraduate student at a participating South Dakota college pursuing a program of student which will prepare them to be employed in a critical need occupation and to maintain a cumulative grade point of 2.8

• Agree to work in South Dakota in a critical need occupation for the number of years scholarship funding was received plus one year.

• Agree that if employment in a critical need occupation is not satisfied for the required term, any scholarship funding will convert to a loan that must be paid back – may be prorated based on partial employment obligation completed.

DAKOTA CORPS SCHOLARSHIP BOARD MEMBERS

• Marcia Hultman, Department Secretary at South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation

• Jim Terwilliger, Commissioner of Bureau of Finance and Management

• Pam Roberts, SD Board of Regents

• Reynold Nesiba, South Dakota State Senator

• Amber Arlint, South Dakota State Representative

Ad-Hoc Members:

• Harvey Jewett, Former SD Board of Regents Member

• Dr. Janice Minder, System Vice President for Academic Policy and Planning, SD Board of Regents

Program Administrator

• Kerri Richards, Scholarship and Financial Aid Policy Analyst, SD Board of Regents

DAKOTA CORPS SCHOLARSHIP - THE BOARD'S ROLE

The Dakota Corps Scholarship Board typically meets twice a year – the primary goals of the first meeting is to approve which occupations will be considered Critical Need Areas for the coming year’s applicants and to set and approve the application for the scholarship.   

The second meeting’s primary goals are to reviews the Dakota Corps Scholarship Board Report and to review and select recipients for the Scholarship.   A list of student applicants and their application information is provided to the board members to review prior to the meeting. During the meeting board members will discuss and review applicants and determine the number awards and the awardees. 

DEADLINE:

For the 2023-2024 cohort, the deadline for the scholarship was moved from February 15 to December 15 to allow students to receive notice of awards earlier in their decision-making processes. This means our first meeting is typically in October with the following meeting the first week of January.