What's up future Coyotes?

I'm Ferrari St. Paul
with YOUniversity TV,

and as an honorary
Coyote for the day,

I will be your host as we tour
the University of South Dakota.

USD is located
in Vermillion,

a small town in southeast
South Dakota,

along the bluff of
the Missouri River.

I love hanging
out in Vermillion,

and with the community.

It's a great college town,
and the community really

caters to the students.

It's about 10,000 people,
and then doubles in size

during the school year,
which is awesome.

The 216 acre campus
features Old Main,

and other historic buildings--

The Dakota Dome sports complex,
plus several museums like

the National Music Museum,
and the W.H. Over Museum

of Natural History.

University of South Dakota
has one of the best collections,

library collections in Western
Americana in the country.

We have also the South
Dakota Oral History project,

which is the largest collection
of Native American oral

histories in the country.

So we get to work with
those kind of materials.

South Dakota enrolls more
than 6,000 undergrads,

and has a total of more
than 9,000 students.

Sixty-three percent are women,
and 37% are men.

The student to faculty
ratio is a low 15 to one.

A student looking to be accepted
into USD should have a minimum

ACT score of 21,
SAT composite score of 990,

or have earned a GPA of at least
2.6 and ranked in the upper 50%

of their high school class.

Students living
in South Dakota

will pay around
$12,000 annually,

Minnesota residents
about $13,500,

and non-residents
close to $14,000.

These totals include the cost
of tuition, room, board, books,

and all other additional fees.

USD offers more than
113 majors and minors,

through seven schools
and colleges.

Some students' favorites
are Business Administration

and Management, Psychology,
and Education.

The U is home to South Dakota's
only College of Fine Arts,

and the only AACSB accredited
School of Business.

Plus, they're the only
university in the state

to have both a School of Law,
and a School of Medicine.

I've gotten to volunteer
in campaigns,

I've gotten to see kind of
firsthand how campaigns

were going to the state
legislature for SHED days,

which is Students In
Higher Education Days,

and I got to meet state
legislators and even lobby

for higher education issues,
which is really, really neat.

It's not about learning
facts, dates, you know,

spitting things back,
it's about thinking critically,

and reading and analyzing,
and being able to write

and communicate that.

And those are skills that you
can do just about anything with.

South Dakota has
355 faculty members.

Forty-five percent are women,
11% are minority groups,

and 82% have the highest
degree in their field.

I think the faculty
are outstanding.

One thing that impresses
me probably the most,

faculty are so easy to access.

Most faculty would say they
have an open door policy.

They have been mentors
and motivators for me.

I have some professors
who will be lifelong friends.

When you visit campus,
you can't miss the Dakota Dome.

It's where 17 Coyote athletic
teams compete at the NCAA

Division I level.

Eighty-two percent of all new
freshmen live on campus.

USD offers specialty floors,
like the honors floor,

sophomore apartment housing,
quiet lifestyle, upperclassmen,

and the single gender floor.

Plus go Greek your
sophomore year,

and you can live
in their housing.

I joined a program called
First Year Experience,

and lived on a first year
experience floor which was

all incoming freshman students.

Um, it was a co-ed floor,
girls and guys, which was fun,

and not knowing
anybody when I came,

that got me plugged
right into a network.

They put on an educational
event each month,

and a fun event each month.

Um, we also have like
TVs and pool tables,

and like foosball tables,
air hockey tables.

USD provides opportunities for
involvement in more than 120

campus organizations
including eight fraternities,

and four sororities.

I joined Strollers and that's
like a singing and dancing

competition that they
do on campus.

Some of the fraternities
and sororities pair up,

and then there's an
independent cast,

and we all compete
against each other.

You pick a theme for a show
and act out a little play.

In state we're really
proud of the fact that

both our currents senators are
graduates of USD Law School.

They've both come through here.

All the five sitting Supreme
Court Justices in the state

of South Dakota are all
graduates of USD Law School.

Two other USD grads went on
to make their mark in the media.

I bet you didn't know long-time
NBC Nightly News Anchor

Tom Brokaw is a University
of South Dakota Alum,

along with Al Neuharth,
who founded USA Today.

So if you're looking for
an affordable university

with renowned faculty
and signature programs,

pick the University
of South Dakota.

Now Maren and I are gonna
end our day in Vermillion,

South Dakota with
a little school spirit.

USD.

Coyotes!

Woo, Woo.

Ooowouuu!