Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All South Dakota benefits
educationstate

The Diploma You Left Behind — Awarded by the School District

A veteran who left school for the Second World War, Korea or Vietnam may be awarded an honorary high school diploma by a school district of their choosing. No examination, no coursework. It is the sort of thing families arrange for a parent and then wish they had known about a decade earlier.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A veteran who left school for the Second World War, Korea or Vietnam may be awarded an honorary high school diploma by a school district of their choosing. No examination, no coursework. It is the sort of thing families arrange for a parent and then wish they had known about a decade earlier.

What it's worth: An honorary high school diploma awarded by a school district, for active service in the Second World War, Korea or Vietnam

  • The qualifying periods stated are 7 December 1941 to 2 September 1945, 25 June 1950 to 31 July 1953, and 28 February 1961 to 7 May 1975.
  • The diploma is awarded by a school district selected in connection with the application.
  • The department cites SDCL 33A-2-34.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your discharge characterisation is within the usual range for state veteran programmes.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Check the dates first. The three qualifying windows are specific, and a veteran who served just outside one of them is not inside the provision however long they served.
  2. 2Pick the school district deliberately. The award is made by a district selected in the application, and most families choose the one the veteran actually left.
  3. 3Ask the district whether it will present it at a ceremony. Nothing requires it, and districts frequently agree — which turns a certificate into the thing the family remembers.
  4. 4Have the discharge document ready. The application is establishing service in a named period, which the DD214 does directly.
  5. 5Do this while the veteran is living. There is nothing in the provision about posthumous awards, and it is not the kind of question you want to be asking later.
  6. 6A county or tribal veterans service officer will lodge this for you. It is a short application and they file them regularly.
Form
Application through the state Department of Veterans Affairs to the chosen school district
File with
The state Department of Veterans Affairs
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingThis carries no money and is recorded anyway. It is one of the few state benefits a family can arrange as a gift, and the qualifying cohort is old enough that the window for arranging it is closing.
Known gapThe page does not say whether a district may decline, or whether an award can be made after the veteran's death. Ask the department before promising a ceremony.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.