Public colleges and universities account for almost 75 percent of all undergraduate students in the U.S. The best public colleges in South Carolina provide broad access to reputable degree programs, affordable tuition, and sprawling educational communities.
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.
Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models — one is a private company with private funding; the other is owned by the state and receives both state and federal funding to operate. If you’re weighing the pros and cons of private vs. public college, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.
Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a four-year degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a four-year public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually.
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.
This list is composed entirely of public colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 12 public universities in South Carolina, 10 satisfy our criteria. The list below of the best public universities in the state satisfies the following four conditions:
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
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1315/29
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Clemson 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
$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
$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
$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
$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:
Photo By: Jay Capilo - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
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