Liberal arts colleges are a great option for students seeking a well-rounded education in an intimate campus setting. The best liberal arts colleges in South Carolina offer a diverse selection of degree programs with opportunities for a highly individualized educational experience.
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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Related: Differences between research universities and teaching colleges
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
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.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Less A liberal arts college is a school that puts a premium on undergraduate studies and offers a broad range of subjects for students to study. A college of liberal arts typically provides smaller class sizes, more direct engagement with professors, and, most importantly, the opportunity to sample a wide range of subject areas on the way to a bachelor’s degree. We’ve identified a total of 32 liberal arts colleges and universities in South Carolina, 22 of which satisfy our criteria. The list below of the best liberal arts schools in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
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
$51K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
81%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1330/30
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Furman University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$30K
Acceptance
93%
Graduation
53%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1065/23
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Coker University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
71%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1140/22
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The Citadel’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$27K
Acceptance
57%
Graduation
52%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
985/18
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Newberry College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$46K
Acceptance
53%
Graduation
80%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1270/28
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Wofford College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
74%
Graduation
66%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1170/25
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College of Charleston’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$18K
Acceptance
97%
Graduation
66%
Student body
1K
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Columbia College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$20K
Acceptance
82%
Graduation
52%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1115/19
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Converse 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
$26K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
54%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/20
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Southern Wesleyan University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
61%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/21
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Winthrop University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
47%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1015/19
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University of South Carolina Upstate’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
44%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1005/18
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Francis Marion University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
57%
Graduation
49%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/20
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Lander University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$17K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
50%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
940/17
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Claflin University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
41%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/20
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University of South Carolina Aiken’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$39K
Acceptance
71%
Graduation
64%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1115/22
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Presbyterian College’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
$29K
Acceptance
59%
Graduation
57%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/23
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Anderson University ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$21K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
51%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/23
View profile
North Greenville University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Photo By: John Foxe - Photograph by John Foxe, Public Domain
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