General education in the South Dakota Regents’ system is partially centralized at the Board of Regents’ level. The regents’ institutions share a set of 7 general education objectives.

The senior administrator on the Board of Regents staff oversees the Academic Affairs Council (AAC), which is comprised of the academic affairs vice president from each institution. The AAC is the administrative oversight body for general education at the system level.

The Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) exam is the system-wide assessment of general education. Students must take and pass the CAAP exam at the end of their sophomore year (at which point they have completed all but a few general education credits) in order to continue in a degree program.