College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

University of South Carolina-Columbia

SCLarge public institution · Overall rank #173 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks University of South Carolina-Columbia #173 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

The fit is clearest for a student who wants a large public university in South Carolina with a degree mix led by Business, Health Professions, and Biological Sciences. University of South Carolina-Columbia is a public university where mobility is among the highest we track.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The model attributes more of that gap to a remainder it does not explain, which subtracts from earnings, than to the factors it measures, which add to them.

Return is above average. The net price for the lowest income band sits well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Pell students complete at a rate below the overall cohort, and affordability is modestly below average. The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid ones are much smaller.

University of South Carolina-Columbia at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
60.2%
Six-year completion[2]
78.8%
Four-year earnings[3]
$67,741

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$19,859
Median student debt[4]
$21,500
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$31,393

University of South Carolina-Columbia rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

University of South Carolina-Columbia is a public university in Columbia, South Carolina, with an undergraduate enrollment of 29,820. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, its composite standing sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking.

Mobility leads the four , affordability trails, and access and return sit between them. University of South Carolina-Columbia admits 60.2% of applicants, compared to a peer median of 78.1% for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

92.2% of full-time first-year students return for a second year, while the peer median is 83.1%. The six-year graduation rate, which counts only first-time full-time students, is 78.8%, against a peer median of 65.0%.

An estimated 16.3% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students. The four pillars sit far apart from one another.

Mobility is the strongest and affordability the weakest, with access and return in between.

The strongest pillar at University of South Carolina-Columbia is mobility, which sits in the 94th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Its composite rank is #173 out of 1,467 institutions.

The access pillar follows in the 80th percentile, the return pillar in the 57th percentile, and affordability in the 43rd percentile. Affordability is the weakest pillar, and the return pillar sits just above the midpoint of nonprofit four-year institutions.

19.1% of undergraduates at University of South Carolina-Columbia receive Pell Grants, the federal aid program used here as a measure of financial access. That share indicates the breadth of the university's reach among students who qualify for need-based support.

Azimuth ranks the university #298 for access among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The access pillar draws on both the Pell share and how those students progress.

Pell recipients complete at 67.8%, a rate that sits 11.0 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate for the entering cohort as a whole. Mobility is the strongest pillar for this university, and Azimuth ranks it #89 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $10,288 less than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

University of South Carolina-Columbia rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#173

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 94
Access & reach
National percentile: 80
Affordability
National percentile: 43
Return on investment
National percentile: 57

Top-ranked majors

  1. International Business#4
  2. Insurance#4
  3. Business/Managerial Economics#11

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / University of South Carolina-Columbia briefing

University of South Carolina-Columbia cost & financial aid[6][7]

The University of South Carolina-Columbia publishes a cost of attendance of $31,638. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $12,288 and required fees of $400 for the 2026-27 academic year, with on-campus food and housing at $17,334.

Out-of-state students face a published tuition of $38,098. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $22,811, which is $7,177 above the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Financial aid reduces the published cost by $8,827 on average. Azimuth ranks the university #801 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at the University of South Carolina-Columbia is $31,638. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $12,634.

For the middle band, families earning $48,001–$75,000, it is $19,859, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $28,125. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $15,491.

Azimuth ranks the university #801 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. Aid covers about 28% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, a savings of $8,827.

The across all aid recipients is $22,811, which sits above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $7,177. Among federal-loan borrowers who completed, the median federal student debt is $21,500, with about 90.9% of federal aid recipients borrowing.

That debt is above the peer median of $20,076 by $1,424. For parent borrowers, the median Parent PLUS borrowing is $31,393.

The estimated payment on the median federal debt if repaid over ten years is $244 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$19,859

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at University of South Carolina-Columbia

Federal borrowing is widespread at the University of South Carolina-Columbia: 90.9% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Among completers, the median federal student debt is $21,500.

That median is above the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,424, a narrow gap. Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $31,393.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 52% of graduates in a recent cohort of 5,348 borrowed from any source. The average cumulative debt per borrower was $34,211.

Federal loans were held by 50% of graduates, at an average of $19,814. Another 14% of graduates carried private loans, averaging $53,477.

The return picture at the University of South Carolina-Columbia is mixed. Graduates earn a median of $67,741 four years after completion, a figure in the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That median sits above the $65,610 peer median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,131. Yet graduates earn about $10,288 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 18th percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $49,255 and an upside scenario of $94,779. Borrowers finish with a median federal debt of $21,500, which is above the $20,076 peer median by $1,424.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $244 a month if repaid over ten years. The earnings sit above the peer median, but the shortfall against the model's expectation for similar students tempers the return story.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $31,393. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $244.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$21,500
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$31,393

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$244/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$399/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / University of South Carolina-Columbia briefing

University of South Carolina-Columbia career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree at University of South Carolina-Columbia, graduates earn a median of $67,741. That is above the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,131.

That median places the university in the 72nd percentile nationally, while the return pillar overall sits in the 57th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The return picture is mixed because graduates earn about $10,288 less than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 18th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $13,443. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $23,731.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,125. The median earnings sit above the peer benchmark.

Yet the model finds graduates earning less than expected for similar students. The program mix and institutional factors pull in opposite directions.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of University of South Carolina-Columbia who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $67,741. That median falls in the 72nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

It is $2,131 above the $65,610 figure for comparable institutions (same type and size). They earn about $10,288 less than the model expects for similar students.

That gap is in the 18th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The earnings cohort includes 7,185 federally aided completers working and not enrolled.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix run from $49,255 on the downside to $94,779 on the upside, with $67,741 as the typical outcome. An estimated 28.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix, so the four-year measure does not cover every completer.

The return picture at University of South Carolina-Columbia is mixed. Four years after completion, graduates earn a median of $67,741, which is above the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,131.

That earnings level places the university in the 72nd percentile nationally. However, graduates earn about $10,288 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 18th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $13,443. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $23,731.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,125. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $49,255 and an upside of $94,779.

Azimuth ranks the university #636 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Program-level results show a wide spread.

The largest program, Finance, awarded 608 degrees and posts median earnings of $92,578 four years after completion, ranking #41 in its field in Azimuth national rankings. Marketing, with 335 degrees awarded, reaches $81,945 and ranks #35 nationally in Azimuth rankings.

The high-return designation goes to International Business, which ranks #4 nationally in Azimuth rankings and earns $107,205, or 1.47x the national median for its field. International Business ranks #4 nationally in Azimuth rankings with earnings of $107,205.

The earnings scenarios span from $49,255 on the downside to $94,779 on the upside. These are scenarios estimated from the program mix, not observed groups of graduates.

At the upper end, Computer Engineering graduates earn $109,116 four years after completion, and International Business graduates earn $107,205. The largest program, Finance, reports $92,578 from 608 degrees awarded a year.

The University of South Carolina-Columbia's strongest pillar is mobility, but the cost and debt picture asks for a closer look. The average net price for aid recipients is $22,811, which runs above the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Across income bands, the average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—ranges from $12,634 for families earning under $30,000 to $28,125 for families earning over $110,000, with middle bands at $14,953, $19,859, and $24,478. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $21,500, which runs above the peer median of $20,076.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $244 a month if repaid over ten years. Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $31,393.

Graduates earn about $10,288 less than the model expects for similar students, while the average net price sits above the peer median. The return picture is mixed: earnings beat the peer median but fall short of the model's expectation, and costs run above and debt runs slightly above comparable institutions.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$13,443
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$23,731
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$10,288

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / University of South Carolina-Columbia briefing

University of South Carolina-Columbia acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

The University of South Carolina-Columbia admits 60.2% of applicants, a rate that sits well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 59,630 applicants, 33,695 admitted students, and 7,818 enrolled first-year students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
60.2%
25th percentile
1200
Median
1280
75th percentile
1360

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / University of South Carolina-Columbia briefing

What are the largest majors at University of South Carolina-Columbia?[12]

The University of South Carolina-Columbia awards bachelor's degrees across 52 fields with published four-year earnings, and Azimuth ranks 48 of them nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions. The highest-earning program, Computer Engineering, shows a median of $109,116 four years after completion, though it awarded only 40 degrees.

International Business follows at $107,205 with 172 degrees awarded. Finance, the biggest with 608 degrees awarded, reaches a median of $92,578 and an Azimuth national rank of #41.

Public Health and Biology, with 438 and 369 degrees awarded respectively, sit at $58,715 (ranked #41) and $58,669 (ranked #145). The contrast between a high-earning business program and more moderate-earning health and science fields is typical of the spread at this university.

University of South Carolina-Columbia publishes earnings data for 52 bachelor's programs, and 48 of those hold an Azimuth national rank. The five largest programs by degrees awarded span business, health, and the sciences, and their earnings outcomes vary widely four years after completion.

Finance awarded 608 degrees and ranks #41 nationally and #1 in South Carolina. Its completers earn a median of $92,578.

Public Health follows with 438 degrees awarded, a national rank of #41, and a median of $58,715. Biology awarded 369 degrees, ranks #145 nationally, and shows a median of $58,669.

Research and Experimental Psychology awarded 342 degrees, ranks #35 nationally, and its completers earn a median of $51,090. Marketing rounds out the largest five with 335 degrees awarded, a national rank of #35, and a median of $81,945.

The highest-earning large program is Finance, while Research and Experimental Psychology sits below the national field median.

Business accounts for 32.2% of bachelor's degrees awarded at University of South Carolina-Columbia, with Health Professions next at 10.7% and Biological Sciences at 9.7%. The university has 48 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 52 with published four-year earnings data.

The largest single program is Finance, at 608 degrees awarded, followed by Public Health at 438 and Biology at 369. Insurance ranks #4 nationally and #1 in South Carolina within its field, with 119 degrees awarded.

General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations ranks #11 nationally and #1 in South Carolina within its field, with 137 degrees awarded. Computer Engineering is the highest-earning program, with a median of $109,116 from 40 degrees awarded.

International Business carries a benchmark ratio of 1.47x against the national median for its field, with earnings of $107,205. The pattern is one of concentrated strength in business and health-related fields, with several programs holding national ranks inside the top twenty-five and the highest state rank in their fields.

The largest programs by degrees awarded are not always the highest-earning: Finance graduates earn $92,578, while the smaller Computer Engineering program reaches a higher figure. Across all fields, 22.9% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

The presence of highly ranked programs in insurance and sales alongside strong earnings in engineering and business suggests a mix where professional and pre-health pathways coexist with technical fields.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Finance and Financial Management Services 608 degrees awarded
$92,578
Public Health 438 degrees awarded
$58,715
Biology, General 369 degrees awarded
$58,669
Research and Experimental Psychology 342 degrees awarded
$51,090
Marketing 335 degrees awarded
$81,945
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 290 degrees awarded
$67,705

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / University of South Carolina-Columbia briefing

How does University of South Carolina-Columbia serve students from different backgrounds?

The university's strongest pillar is mobility, where it ranks #89 among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the mobility pillar in the 94th percentile.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 78.8%, while Pell recipients complete at 67.8%, a figure that sits below the overall rate by 11.0 percentage points. Graduates earn about $10,288 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 18th percentile nationally.

The University of South Carolina-Columbia enrolls 29,820 undergraduates, and an estimated 16.3% arrive as transfers or part-time students. Azimuth places the access pillar in the 80th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university admits 60.2% of applicants, a rate below the median for comparable public universities, which is 78.1%. Pell Grant recipients account for 19.1% of the undergraduate body.

A large enrollment, a transfer pathway, and a selective admissions process together define the access profile.

06 / University of South Carolina-Columbia briefing

What colleges are similar to University of South Carolina-Columbia?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with University of South Carolina-Columbia.

Admissions peerWofford College51.9% admitted
Comparison with University of South Carolina-Columbia
MeasureUniversity of South Carolina-ColumbiaWofford College
Peer earnings · 4 years$67,741$65,763-$1,978 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia
Average annual net price$22,811$18,732-$4,079 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%51.9%
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte79.6% admitted
Comparison with University of South Carolina-Columbia
MeasureUniversity of South Carolina-ColumbiaUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte
Peer earnings · 4 years$67,741$65,370-$2,371 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia
Average annual net price$22,811$15,435-$7,376 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%79.6%
Explore University of North Carolina at Charlotte →
Nearby alternativeWofford CollegeNearby option · SC
Comparison with University of South Carolina-Columbia
MeasureUniversity of South Carolina-ColumbiaWofford College
Peer earnings · 4 years$67,741$65,763-$1,978 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia
Average annual net price$22,811$18,732-$4,079 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%51.9%
Higher-earnings alternativeMaine Maritime Academy$113,298 earnings
Comparison with University of South Carolina-Columbia
MeasureUniversity of South Carolina-ColumbiaMaine Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$67,741$113,298+$45,557 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia
Average annual net price$22,811$23,414+$603 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia · higher cost
Admission rate60.2%54.1%
Explore Maine Maritime Academy →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte$15,435 average net price
Comparison with University of South Carolina-Columbia
MeasureUniversity of South Carolina-ColumbiaUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte
Peer earnings · 4 years$67,741$65,370-$2,371 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia
Average annual net price$22,811$15,435-$7,376 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%79.6%
Explore University of North Carolina at Charlotte →
Similar profileThe University of Tennessee-KnoxvilleMatched across several measures
Comparison with University of South Carolina-Columbia
MeasureUniversity of South Carolina-ColumbiaThe University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Peer earnings · 4 years$67,741$67,631-$110 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia
Average annual net price$22,811$18,976-$3,835 vs University of South Carolina-Columbia · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%41.6%
Explore The University of Tennessee-Knoxville →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings