The University of South Dakota (or informally USD) is a public coeducational research (R2) university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship university for the state of South Dakota and the state's oldest public university.

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USD occupies a 274 acres  campus located in southeastern South Dakota, approximately 63 miles (southwest of Sioux Falls, 39 miles northwest of Sioux City, Iowa, and north of the Missouri River.

The university is home to South Dakota's only medical school and law school.  It is also home to the National Music Museum, with over 15,000 American, European, and non-Western instruments. USD is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents, and its president is Sheila Gestring. The university has been accredited by the North Central Association of College and Schools since 1913.

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University of South Dakota's alumni include a total of 17 Truman Scholars, 12 Rhodes Scholars, and 1 Nobel Laureate, (Ernest Lawrence '22, 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics.) The athletic teams compete in the NCAA's Division I as members of The Summit League, except football, which competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.