University of South Dakota
SD · AI Readiness #159 of 227
AIREDEX™ Score: 5.9 /10
USD was the first university in South Dakota to offer an AI degree, launching its undergraduate AI concentration in 2019, and now pairs that program with two open-enrollment AI certificates and two named HPC clusters students access at no cost.
USD undergrads can pursue a Computer Science degree with an AI specialization, earn a standalone undergraduate AI certificate regardless of major, or layer AI coursework across business, fine arts, and the humanities. The Applied AI Research Lab, founded 2015 with more than two dozen researchers, anchors a research enterprise that has drawn over $8.7 million in federal funding, including a $6.5 million Department of Education grant for the South Dakota Biomedical Computation Collaborative. USD is also the only South Dakota institution in the NIST AI Safety Institute Consortium, connecting students to national AI safety and standards work.
Pillar grades
- Commitment: C+
- Curriculum: C-
- Partnerships: C-
- Research: A
A(I)ttitude™: neutral
Selected Highlights
- 15-member AI Steering Committee with named chair Mandie Weinandt (Director, Center for Teaching and Learning); produced public AI guidelines page and hosted AI Teaching Innovation Showcase within past 2 years.
- Institutional AI resource page (usd.edu/About/Artificial-Intelligence) plus faculty-specific guidance page; BOR AI policy formally adopted July 2026; USD President Gestring quoted as co-author of BOR systemwide AI strategic objectives.
- South Dakota Biomedical Computation Collaborative (SDBCC) confirmed as named cross-disciplinary AI hub spanning CS and Sanford School of Medicine; co-PIs KC Santosh and William C.W. Chen; funded at $6.5M (DOE) + $725K (BOR); active graduate program and fellowship development documented.
- Undergraduate AI concentration (B.S. in CS with AI specialization) confirmed since 2019; first AI-focused undergraduate degree in South Dakota.
- USD is the only South Dakota member of NIST's U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC); PI KC Santosh works in risk management, synthetic content, red-teaming, and safety/security; ethics explicitly embedded in MS AI curriculum and institutional policy.