About the Program

The South Dakota Retailers Association scholarship program provides assistance to students studying for a career in retail and hospitality businesses, whether as an owner, manager, or employee. In 2025, our Scholarship Committee awarded funds to five students, in amounts ranging from $3,000 to $3,875.

Since the program started in 1992, the Association has awarded more than a quarter million dollars in scholarships.

Download the digital application by clicking the blue button above. Hard copy applications are available upon request from SDRA by contacting us at the link below.

Applicants will receive notification by email when SDRA receives the application. If you submit an application by email and don't receive confirmation, please contact us at the link below.

For questions, please contact us at (605) 224-5050.

Scholarship Eligibility
WHO IS ELIGIBLE

1. Career in Retail: Applicant must desire a career in a retail or retail-related field as an owner, manager or employee.

2. Type of School: Applicant must enroll in a retail or retail related course of study at a qualifying accredited technical school, college, university, or certified professional training institute in the fall of 2027.

3. Retail/Retail-Related Field of Study: Examples of fields of study considered to be retail or retail-related include (but are not limited to): Accounting, Agribusiness (retail agribusiness), Apparel Merchandising, Auto Mechanics, Automotive Technology, Business Administration, Business Management, Collision Repair, Computer Science, Commercial Baking, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Diesel Mechanics, Electrical Maintenance, Entrepreneurial Studies, Gemology, Hotel/Restaurant Management, HVAC, Landscape Design, Pharmacy, Photography, Printing Industries, Sales/Marketing Management, and Tourism Industry Management (NOTE: this list is not all-inclusive.)

4. South Dakota Education: Applicant must meet one or more of these three criteria:
  • ​have graduated from a South Dakota high school OR
  • have earned a GED (or other high school equivalency) in South Dakota OR
  • plan to attend post-secondary school in South Dakota

5. Credits/Full-Time Work Experience/or ProStart: Applicant must meet one or more of these four criteria:
  • have earned 24 or more credits from a qualifying college or university by Sept. 1, 2027 OR
  • have earned 12 or more credits from a qualifying technical college, trade school or certified professional training institute by Sept. 1, 2027 OR
  • have successfully completed ProStart (Foundations of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts) Levels 1 and 2 a high school culinary arts program OR
  • non-traditional student who has full-time work experience

6. Credit Hours: Student must enroll in 12 or more credit hours of classes at a qualifying post-secondary school or online degree program for the fall of 2027. (Internships do not qualify.)

7. Prior Recipients: Previous recipients are eligible. A new application must be filled out for consideration. ​
Steps To Applying
New application steps coming in 2027.