Graduate school may be a critical step in your higher education, whether you are interested in expanding your knowledge, learning a specialization, or earning advanced credentials required by your profession. The best graduate schools in South Carolina offer advanced degrees, such as master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as opportunities for independent research, mentorships, and professional networking.
The 31 public schools range in tuition from $5,000 to $17,000. The largest institution, the University of South Carolina (U of SC), is right in the middle, totaling $11,000 for fees. Located in Columbia, U of SC has over 30,000 students in attendance and offers over 300 degree options. Aside from the technical and community colleges in the state, there are four universities under $10,000. At $17,000, the Medical University of South Carolina is the most expensive public school in the state.
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In addition, over 25 private schools, 17 with religious affiliations, offer academic settings with small student populations, none exceeding 3,500. Though it is the most expensive at $50,000, Furman University boasts an 84% graduation rate. With Methodist connections, Wofford College charges a tuition of $44,000, and it bears noting that the campus is situated on a national arboretum. The University of South Carolina School of Law is one of the nation’s oldest law schools and the state’s only nonprofit law school. Graduates of the school have the opportunity to receive financial assistance from the Public Interest Law Loan Forgiveness Fund if they are employed in the field of public interest law.
Along the 60-mile stretch of beaches in South Carolina is iconic Myrtle Beach, home to one of the world’s tallest Ferris wheels. Cypress swamps, military museums, and tea gardens add to the southern charm of this state. And with over 50 higher education institutions, students have plenty of options for where to earn their associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree.
Check out the top programs available, and earn your degree in The Palmetto State.
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There are 8 doctorate-granting universities in South Carolina, the top 7 satisfy our criteria. The best graduate schools below are composed of both private and public schools that satisfy the following four conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. At the undergraduate level, the best colleges and universities are those with the highest concentration of influence. Our Concentrated Influence metric adjusts overall influence by size of undergraduate student body, thus allowing smaller schools to compete with larger schools so long as they have proportionately as strong influential faculty and alums.
But at the graduate level, the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. Overall influence, and not influence controlled by other variables, thus becomes the best gauge of academic excellence at the graduate level. Where smaller size is an advantage at the undergraduate level (hence Concentrated Influence), graduate studies benefit from a large and vibrant community of graduate students, who promise to become the new generation of academic influencers.
If you are serious about finding the best graduate schools, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our methodology here.
Less Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
78%
Student body
32K
Median SAT/ACT
1275/28
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University of South Carolina’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
85%
Student body
24K
Median SAT/ACT
1315/29
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Clemson University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Graduation
65%
Student body
3K
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Bob Jones University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$37K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
52%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1025/19
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Erskine College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
46%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1090/21
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Coastal Carolina University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$24K
Acceptance
51%
Graduation
68%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/21
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Columbia International University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$21K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
51%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/23
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North Greenville University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
30%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
915/16
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South Carolina State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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