Dakota State outlines cyber expansion, Sioux Falls secure facility and near‑universal job placement

José‑Marie Griffiths, president of Dakota State University, presented the university’s outcomes and capital plans to the Joint Committee on Appropriations, focusing on quantum and cyber investments intended to grow the state’s cybersecurity workforce.

Griffiths said the Center for Quantum Information Science and Technology received a state appropriation of approximately $3.0 million (split among Regental institutions) and that DSU used a 2022 $30 million appropriation to expand cyber capacity. She told lawmakers DSU has submitted and received several NSF awards tied to quantum and related research and that the campus collaborates with the Sanford Underground Research Facility and national labs.

On workforce development, Griffiths described the Governor’s Cyber Academy, a dual-degree program that allows high-school juniors and seniors to take courses in DSU majors and gain early exposure to cyber careers; she reported roughly 38 percent of Cyber Academy students matriculate to DSU and an additional 20 percent to other Regental institutions. Griffiths also outlined apprenticeship and internship pathways, including federal‑funded scholarships tied to service, and said many students obtain security clearances in time for classified work.

Griffiths described a Denny Sanford–funded secure facility in Sioux Falls (about $55 million in referenced funding) that will include secured rooms and SCIF capability to host government and private-sector partners; she said the facility is scheduled to open in late summer or early fall and is meant to retain graduates in-state by providing secure research and employer space. Griffiths said DSU is in discussions with Army Cyber, Homeland Security and other contractors about research funding and tenancy at the Sioux Falls site.

On outcomes, Griffiths told the committee DSU’s post‑graduation placement—measured as employment in a relevant field or continued study within six months of graduation—continues to exceed 99 percent; she said South Dakota now has just under 8,000 cybersecurity jobs with roughly 2,000 current vacancies and that the cybersecurity industry’s GDP contribution in the state has roughly doubled in five years.

Griffiths framed DSU’s work as a statewide economic-development effort that pairs degree production with secure infrastructure and employer partnerships. Committee members asked about clearance costs, constraints on international students for certain classified programs, recruiting businesses for the Sioux Falls facility and timelines for the next steps. Griffiths said clearance costs are funded by the sponsoring entity for classified work and that some PhD-level cyber operations work is restricted to U.S. nationals because of national-security concerns.

Next steps: DSU plans to continue program accreditation efforts, open the Sioux Falls facility when federal appropriations and planning are finalized, and coordinate with the Board of Regents and industry partners to populate secure labs and tenant spaces.