While high school seniors are dreaming of moving into their dorm rooms – many in South Dakota’s government and university system dream of keeping their brains in the state. Now, there's a central resource connecting students to the state's schools.
Researching colleges is overwhelming for many students, but the state Board of Regents wants to make that process easier for students interested in South Dakota institutions. That's the influence behind the creation of the Our Dakota Dreams website.
Molly Weisgram is the academic program manager for the Regents. She said they’ve made a central resource for those students.
“The Our Dakota Dreams website aims to be a premier source for college preparation for South Dakota, and it features state technical colleges and universities," Weisgram said. "It brings a bank of information and offers numerous resources to help students, parents, and educators navigate the whole college preparation process.”
Resources like prep courses for individual trouble subjects.
“Math for college readiness for instance – it’s a course for students who are college-bound, but may not feel confident in their math abilities, may have some need to take developmental coursework when they get onto the college campus," Weisgram said. "What these college readiness courses do allow the student to take the class while they’re in high school.”
Successful completion of courses like these could allow a student with a low subject placement score to hurdle a required 090-level course their freshman year and go directly to a 101-level class. Weisgram said doing this can save a student over $1,000.
She said these resources are designed to make it all as easy as possible for prospective students.
“The website also offers really neat resources such as grade-by-grade college preparation checklists, information about the cost of college and financial aid information, career and college exploration resources, and something we’re really excited about which is the first ever statewide scholarship bulletin board,” Weisgram said.
These resources can be found for free online at www.ourdakotadreams.com