Here are the most affordable colleges and universities in South Carolina. Our list will help you find the right kind of school for you, at a price you can afford.
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.
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.
We’ve identified 16 affordable colleges and universities in South Carolina, all of which satisfies the following conditions:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Graduation
8%
Student body
<1K
Clinton College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
34%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1015/19
University of South Carolina Beaufort’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
41%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1050/20
University of South Carolina Aiken’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
94%
Graduation
30%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
915/16
South Carolina State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$11K
Acceptance
75%
Graduation
44%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1005/18
Francis Marion University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
70%
Graduation
46%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1090/21
Coastal Carolina University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
47%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1015/19
University of South Carolina Upstate’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$12K
Acceptance
57%
Graduation
49%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1035/20
Lander University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
71%
Student body
4K
Median SAT/ACT
1140/22
The Citadel’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
78%
Student body
32K
Median SAT/ACT
1275/28
University of South Carolina’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Graduation
41%
Student body
<1K
Voorhees College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
74%
Graduation
66%
Student body
10K
Median SAT/ACT
1170/25
College of Charleston’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$13K
Acceptance
65%
Graduation
19%
Student body
<1K
Allen University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$15K
Graduation
26%
Student body
<1K
Morris College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
62%
Graduation
85%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1315/29
Clemson University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$16K
Acceptance
64%
Graduation
61%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1055/21
Winthrop University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Photo By: Clinton Junior College
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