Admissions & selectivity
University of South Carolina-Columbia Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at University of South Carolina-Columbia?
University of South Carolina-Columbia’s reported acceptance rate is 60.2%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 60.2%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: University of South Carolina-Columbia Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
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.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled University of South Carolina-Columbia students report?
Enrolled first-year students at the University of South Carolina-Columbia arrive with strong high-school academic records, though standardized-test participation covers a minority of the entering class. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the reported average high-school GPA was 3.68, with 97.6% of the class submitting a GPA.
Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores—32% of the class—the middle half scored between 1200 and 1360. For the ACT, submitted by 15% of enrolled first-year students, the middle half ranged from 26 to 32.
Class-rank data, reported by 63% of the entering class, show that 31% of those students finished in the upper tenth of their high-school class and 65% in the upper quarter. These ranges describe the enrolled class, not minimum requirements, and low submission shares mean the score ranges reflect a minority.
Applicants can use those SAT and ACT ranges as benchmarks for academic credentials of recent entering students.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at University of South Carolina-Columbia. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
32% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1200
- Median
- 1280
- 75th percentile
- 1360
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
15% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 26
- Median
- 29
- 75th percentile
- 32
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: University of South Carolina-Columbia Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at University of South Carolina-Columbia?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 19.1%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 16.3%
- First-year retention
- 92.2%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, University of South Carolina-Columbia reported 4,088 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 2,666 admitted transfer students, and 1,664 enrolled transfer students. An estimated 16.3% of the undergraduate body arrived as transfers or part-time students, while total undergraduate enrollment is 29,820 and Pell Grant recipients account for 19.1% of that population.
That mix reflects a campus where students who started elsewhere and Pell recipients overlap across the undergraduate population. Pell-eligible applicants and prospective transfers should ask how the university coordinates advising between the financial aid and transfer-credit offices.
The university's first-year retention rate of 92.2% runs well above the 83.1% median for comparable institutions. Its six-year graduation rate of 78.8% also exceeds the peer median of 65.0%.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 92% of the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class returned for a second year. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time, full-time fall 2019 entering class was 79.0%, and for Pell recipients in that same entering class it was 69.0%, below the overall rate.
The federal data shows a Pell completion rate of 67.8%, which is 11.0 percentage points below the overall six-year rate of 78.8%. Enrolled students can expect strong persistence and completion outcomes, with the understanding that the experience differs across income groups.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.