Best Christian Colleges in South Carolina 2025

Badge for BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA CHRISTIAN COLLEGES

By Dr. James Barham
Reviewed By Jenn Finley

Published: May 4, 2021
Updated: Oct 18, 2024

Key Takeaways

Christian colleges are bound by the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, the association that spearheads and oversees these institutions’ accreditation status and curriculum design.
South Carolina has a diverse population base, which explains why they also have high-powered colleges and universities, including Bible and Christian colleges.
Almost all states have Christian Colleges, and some of the most exceptional ones are found in South Carolina.

Table of Contents

10 Best Christian Colleges in South Carolina in 2025

Bob Jones University
+1
Wofford College
–1
Presbyterian College
+4
Anderson University
–1
Charleston Southern University
+6
Erskine College
–2
Benedict College
–1
Allen University
–3
Claflin University
+1
Newberry College
–2

2025 Ranking Update

Our Influence Ranking Engine™ leverages machine learning to track the real-world influence of colleges and universities over time. Below you’ll see which schools gained or lost ground for the 2025 school year.

Bob Jones University has moved up 1 position to take the number 1 spot in our 2025 ranking of the best Christian Universities in South Carolina. Presbyterian College also jumped 4 spots to move up to number 3.

Bob Jones has expanded their online degrees options and professional studies options. The school has added new degree completion programs like the RN to BSN pathway.

Presbyterian College has launched an accelerated online pathway for pharmacy students. The school is expanding its focus on experiential learning and career readiness through new service entrepreneurship competitions and enhanced global study programs, including partnerships with international institutions.

South Carolina’s Faith-based Colleges

Known as the Palmetto State, South Carolina is the 23^rd most populous state in the US. It has more than five million residents, a diverse workforce and population base.

South Carolina has lots of high-powered universities and colleges. The Christian colleges in the state are no different. There are several exceptional Christian colleges in South Carolina, like Southern Wesleyan University, Erskine College, Wofford College, Allen University, and many more.

Denominations represented include Methodist, Wesleyan, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Pentecostal, to name a few.

Council of Christian Colleges and Universities

Also called CCCU, the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities is an association that works to provide a unifying voice for Christian higher education around the world.

Being a higher education association that progresses the cause of Christian-centered institutions, the CCCU plays a crucial role in setting the standard in formal higher education in Christianity.

One of the goals of the CCCU is to boost professional development by helping schools integrate education and faith in the most efficient way possible. To achieve this, CCCU offers campus and faculty leaders the chance to complete their program, one that inspires and encourages.

The CCCU program includes assessment opportunities, conferences, grants, networking opportunities, scholarships, and much more. The program helps leaders within the schools meet the Christian ministry and academic standards set forth by the Council.

Christian Scholarships

The number of Christian Colleges scattered across the US clearly shows that there will always be students who prefer to enroll in such institutions. This is also why there are numerous Christian scholarships opportunities.

Regardless of denomination, there are plenty of scholarship opportunities for students in Christian colleges, for both general and specific denominations.

Whether you want to attend a seminary school, study theology, or simply identify as a Christian, you can find several scholarships. Many colleges and private organization fund Christian students to reward them for their church and community service.

Here are some scholarship opportunities for Christian students.

Davis Family Scholarship Endowment for Christian Students: This scholarship assists Lowcountry students who are active in Christian churches with the cost of attaining a college degree.

Lettie Pate Whitehead Scholarship Program awards annual grants to female students with financial need at more than 200 accredited educational institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

There are hundreds of Christian organizations that offer scholarships to students who plan to attend a Christian college. You can find some other options to explore at scholarships.com for eligible Christian college students.

The following list of the best Christian schools consists entirely of colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 16 Christian colleges in South Carolina. In order to be included in this ranking list of best Christian colleges and universities, a school must self-identify as Christian, be fully accredited, and offer a broad range of bachelor degree programs.

How do we determine South Carolina's best Christian colleges and universities?

Methodology

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence in their fields of study.

Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.