public coeducational institution of higher learning in Brookings, eastern South Dakota, U.S. It was established by an act of the Dakota Territorial Legislature in 1881 as a land-grant college, under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862. The Agricultural Experiment Station was founded in 1887. After the school was reorganized in 1923, it consisted of divisions of agriculture, engineering, home economics, pharmacy, and general science. In the 1950s nursing and graduate divisions were added; a division of education was created in 1975. Total student enrollment is approximately 10,000.

South Dakota State University offers more than 70 undergraduate degree programs, master's degrees in over 30 fields, and doctorates in 7 disciplines, as well as 2 associate degree programs. The university is composed of the Graduate School and the Colleges of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, Arts and Science, Education and Counseling, Engineering, Family and Consumer Sciences, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Research facilities include the Northern Plains Biostress Laboratory, the Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, the Water and Environmental Engineering Research Center, and the Northern Grain Insects Research Laboratory. Campus facilities include the South Dakota Art Museum, McCrory Gardens, and the South Dakota State Agricultural Heritage Museum. The Oak Lake Field Station is 22 miles (35 km) northeast of the campus. The Coughlin Campanile, erected in 1929 to a height of 165 feet (50 metres), is a distinguishing campus landmark.