Black Hills State University, South Dakota's third largest comprehensive public university, offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. The 123-acre (50 ha) campus is located in Spearfish, South Dakota. Close to 5,000 students attend classes at the Spearfish campus, at sites in Rapid City, Pierre, Yankton, Sioux Falls and through distance offerings. Enrollment comes from nearly every county in South Dakota, 44 States, and 13 Countries. BHSU is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents.

Black Hills State University was established by the Dakota Territorial Legislature in 1883 as Dakota Territory Spearfish Normal School. By 1924 the school was authorized to adopt a four-year curriculum leading to a B.S. in education degree. Known informally as a teacher’s college during the 20s and 30s, the name was officially changed to Black Hills Teachers College in 1941. On July 1, 1964, in recognition of the broadening educational opportunities offered by the college, the Legislature officially changed the name to Black Hills State College. The college's role in the state's higher education system has continued to grow and evolve over recent decades. Recognizing the need to be competitive in today's educational market place and at the same time enhance the state's economic development potential, the state Legislature changed the college's name to Black Hills State University, effective July 1, 1989. Dr. Kay Schallenkamp became the university's ninth president July 2006, following a national search by the South Dakota Board of Regents.

The Black Hills (Pahá Sápa in Lakota, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva in Cheyenne) are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA.Harney Peak, which rises to 7,244 feet (2,208 m), is the range's highest summit. The Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest and are home to the tallest peaks of continental North America east of the Rockies. The name "Black Hills" is a translation of the Lakota Pahá Sápa. The hills were so-called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they were covered in trees.

Native Americans have a long history in the Black Hills. After conquering the Cheyenne in 1776, the Lakota took over the territory of the Black Hills, which became central to their culture. In 1868, the U.S. government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, exempting the Black Hills from all white settlement forever. However, when European Americans discovered gold there in 1874, as a result of George Armstrong Custer's Black Hills Expedition, erstwhile miners swept into the area in a gold rush. The US government re-assigned the Lakota, against their wishes, to other reservations in western South Dakota. Unlike most of South Dakota, the Black Hills were settled by European Americans primarily from population centers to the west and south of the region, as miners flocked there from earlier gold boom locations in Colorado and Montana.

A state university system in the United States is a group of public universities supported by an individual state, or a similar entity such as the District of Columbia. These systems constitute the majority of public-funded universities in the country. Each state supports at least one such system.

Federal funded colleges and universities are limited to military personnel and government employees. Members of foreign militaries and governments also attend some schools. These schools include the United States military academies, Naval Postgraduate School, and military staff colleges.

A state university system normally means a single legal entity and administration, but may consist of several institutions, each with its own identity as a university. Some states—such as California and Texas—support more than one such system.

State universities get subsidies from their states. The amount of the subsidy varies from university to university and state to state, but the effect is to lower tuition costs below that of private universities. As more and more Americans attend college, and private tuition rates increase well beyond the rate of inflation, admission to state universities is becoming more and more competitive.