Top Ranked Programs
University of South Carolina-Columbia's program mix is anchored in Business, which accounts for 32% of degree output, followed by Engineering at 6% and Social Sciences at 6%. The combination of applied-business strength and health-sciences depth gives the institution a workforce-oriented program signature common among large public research universities in the Southeast. Across 63 programs serving roughly 7,099 students annually, 52 meet Azimuth's ranking threshold. Finance is the program that combines the largest cohort with strong earnings, making it a central driver of the institution's overall financial profile. The Finance program graduates 608 students annually with median earnings of $92,578 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks the program #40 nationally for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Other large programs include Public Health (438 graduates, $58,715) and Biology, General (369 graduates, $58,669). On the earnings side, Finance leads with median earnings of $92,578 from a cohort of 608 graduates, and Azimuth ranks the program #40 nationally for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Artificial Intelligence follows at $84,720 with 214 graduates. Several of University of South Carolina-Columbia's strongest-earning programs — including Finance and Digital Marketing — feed directly into high-mobility career pathways where graduates enter the workforce at competitive salaries. Programs like Research Psychology and Digital Marketing, while producing moderate early-career earnings, serve large cohorts and connect to stable regional labor markets in health and education. The [supply-demand map for college graduates](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/) provides additional context for how these program families align with national hiring trends, and the [program-ranking methodology](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/) explains how Azimuth evaluates individual programs. ```