Dakota State University students walking around campus

Preparation + opportunity = success

That's the DSU equation. We're a four-year university with nationally recognized programs, cutting-edge facilities, and the brightest thinkers. But we're also a tight-knit, inclusive community. Small class sizes mean hands-on training and individualized attention. All this with an affordable, public school price that's among the best values in the region.

Majors & Degrees

Academic Teams

Trojans compete both on and
off the field 

At DSU, we know that learning happens everywhere, not just in the classroom. We take tremendous pride in our competitive academic teams. They're an incredible opportunity to apply your tech-centered education to practical challenges.

Hone your problem-solving skills, learn to work as a team and build a network of fellow elite students from around the region and the country (the bragging rights our teams earn are pretty sweet, too).

group of students looking at computers

Computer programming teams

Hone your programming, teamwork, and problem-solving skills through programming competitions. DSU competes in the North Central region of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC).

Defensive security teams

Apply topics discussed in classes – networking, security, and administration – to real-world scenarios. You and your team will defend a small computer network from attack while keeping the network functional. DSU's defensive security teams meet and practice weekly to prepare for various defensive security competitions, both regionally and nationally. We've competed in the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC), the Department of Energy's CyberForce Competition™ (DoE CC), and the ISEAGE Cyber Defense Competition (CDC).

Offensive security teams

Put your skills to the test in offensive-focused competitions. DSU's offensive security teams work in reverse engineering and malware analysis, software exploitation, penetration testing and ethical hacking, and web application security. Teams compete in various capture-the-flag (CTF) events as well as National Cyber League and the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition (CPTC).