Why Graduate Education at the School of Mines?
Distinguishing between graduate schools is not an easy task because many U.S. universities have the facilities and faculties for quality graduate education and state-of-the-art research. What sets the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology apart?
Our emphasis is on the individual graduate student, beginning with the proper match among interests, programs, and faculty advisors and continuing with a sustained commitment for the student's development as a scholar, researcher, and practitioner.
Our smaller size guarantees access to distinguished faculty, classes, and resources. Here, you will study and work side-by-side with respected teachers and researchers as new questions are generated and novel solutions are produced. Graduate students at the School of Mines are more than spectators of the education and research process, they participate in it!
Our graduate programs provide options that allow graduate students to gain a wider variety of experiences and skills. For example, students are encouraged to participate in inter-disciplinary research that can improve their ability to work effectively in team-based projects, to pursue off-campus internship programs with industry and government, to take additional courses to enhance their communication and computer skills, etc.
Our tradition of training future engineers and scientists for employment by the private sector, in addition to academe and the government, is congruent with employment trends.
Our strengths at the School of Mines lie not only in the opportunities described here, but also in our underlying commitment to excellence in education, research, and service. Whereas we strive to readily adapt to the demands associated with the increasing rate of change; our tradition of excellence will remain intact.