Western Dakota Tech takes housing shortage head-on, set to build on-campus housing

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Western Dakota Technical College students are feeling the heat from Rapid City’s housing shortage. WDT has taken matters into its own hands and will build on-campus housing.

Dr. Ann Bolman, President of WDT, says students cannot find apartments, so the students go to a different college.

The tight housing market has a ripple effect on the area’s workforce. WDT focuses on high-need and high-paying jobs in South Dakota, with the hope that these students will work in South Dakota.

“Many of our students come from outside the Rapid City area. We have lots of students from other parts of the state that would like to come here because we have some unique programs at WDT that are not offered in other places. But they are not able to find housing in the apartments, very easily, in the area,” says Bolman.

She shares that the on-campus housing will not be ready for a few years but will be able to house 50 students.

For the interim, WDT has partnered with a Rapid City rental company to house 20 students.

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