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University of South Carolina - Columbia Data & Information Overview

729 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
68% Acceptance Rate
If you want to know more about University of South Carolina - Columbia, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource. All you need to do to learn more about a stat is click on its tile, and you’ll be taken to another page that analyzes that data more closely. Also, you can use the links below to scroll to any section of this page.

How Well Is University of South Carolina - Columbia Ranked?

#143 Best Colleges in Nation
#2 Best Colleges in SC
Retailing and Retail Operations Highest Ranked Major
Quality Badge

2023 Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

University of South Carolina - Columbia was awarded 729 badges in the 2023 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is retailing and retail operations.

Overall Quality

UofSC is ranked #143 out of 2,241 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2023 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation. This is an improvement over the previous year, when UofSC held the #298 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.

UofSC is also ranked #2 out of 44 schools in South Carolina.

See all of the rankings for University of South Carolina - Columbia.

Is It Hard to Get Into UofSC?

68% Acceptance Rate
58% Of Accepted Are Women
61% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

University of South Carolina - Columbia has an acceptance rate of 68%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for UofSC.

Average Test Scores

About 61% of students accepted to UofSC submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 580 and 670. Math scores were between 560 and 670.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for University of South Carolina - Columbia  ( 580 to 670 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for University of South Carolina - Columbia  ( 560 to 670 )
200
800
UofSC received ACT scores from 38% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 25 and 31.

ACT Composite Scores for University of South Carolina - Columbia  ( 25 to 31 )
1
36

Learn more about University of South Carolina - Columbia admissions.

University of South Carolina - Columbia Faculty

18 to 1 Student to Faculty
72% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

With a student to faculty ratio of 18 to 1, University of South Carolina - Columbia is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it's a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at University of South Carolina - Columbia is 72%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  72 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at University of South Carolina - Columbia

90% Freshmen Retention
62% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

University of South Carolina - Columbia has a freshmen retention rate of 90%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  90 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at UofSC for first-time, full-time students is 62%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  62 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of South Carolina - Columbia.

University of South Carolina - Columbia Undergraduate Student Diversity

26,174 Full-Time Undergraduates
22.0% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
54.1% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 27,271 undergraduates at UofSC with 26,174 being full-time and 1,097 being part-time.

How Much Does University of South Carolina - Columbia Cost?

$20,559 Net Price
48% Take Out Loans
$36,856 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of UofSC is $20,559. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for UofSC

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$12,130 $16,404 $20,325 $22,517 $24,733

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of UofSC, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At UofSC, approximately 48% of students took out student loans averaging $9,214 a year. That adds up to $36,856 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at UofSC is 3.1%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Get more details about paying for University of South Carolina - Columbia.

How Much Money Do UofSC Graduates Make?

$54,109 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from UofSC make about $54,109 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That's great news for UofSC students since it is 27% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at University of South Carolina - Columbia make the most money.

Location of University of South Carolina - Columbia

South Carolina State
26,174 Full-Time Undergraduates
Midsize City Campus Setting
Located in Columbia, South Carolina, University of South Carolina - Columbia is a public institution. The city atmosphere of Columbia makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.

Get more details about the location of University of South Carolina - Columbia.

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Contact details for UofSC are given below.

Contact Details
Address: Columbia-Campus, Columbia, SC 29208
Phone: 803-777-7000
Website: www.sc.edu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uofsc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UofSC

University of South Carolina - Columbia Majors

100 Majors With Completions
7,279 Undergraduate Degrees
2,506 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 100 majors graduated from University of South Carolina - Columbia. Of these students, 7,279 received undergraduate degrees and 2,506 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
Finance & Financial Management 553 $53,758
Public Health 493 $29,317
Child Development & Psychology 338 $26,963
Marketing 335 $47,936
General Biology 279 $24,955
Public Relations & Advertising 277 $36,111
Business Administration & Management 272 $43,327
Nursing 255 $61,735
Physiology & Pathology Sciences 240 $23,103
Computer Information Systems 236 $57,440

Learn more about the majors offered at University of South Carolina - Columbia along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at UofSC

93% Take At Least One Class Online
50% Take All Classes Online

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

In 2019-2020, 33,092 students took at least one online class at University of South Carolina - Columbia. This is an increase from the 11,313 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2019-2020 33,092 17,648
2018-2019 11,313 1,916
2017-2018 9,708 1,609
2016-2017 8,728 1,476
2015-2016 8,394 1,648

Learn more about online learning at University of South Carolina - Columbia.

If you’re considering University of South Carolina - Columbia, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.

Curious on how these schools stack up against UofSC? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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