South Carolina State University

Overview

Rankings

• #6 Best HBCUs for Engineering
• #6 Best HBCUs for Mechanical Engineering
• #6 Best HBCUs for Electrical Engineering
• #6 Best HBCUs for Civil Engineering
• #7 Best Criminal Justice Colleges in South Carolina
• #11 Best Communications Colleges in South Carolina
• #13 Best Computer Science Colleges in South Carolina
• #13 Best Data Science Colleges in South Carolina

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into South Carolina State University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

As a public institution in Orangeburg, South Carolina, South Carolina State University admits most of the students who apply; the acceptance rate is roughly 83%. Admitted students typically arrive with a mid-range ACT score around 17. The graduation rate is roughly 33%.

Acceptance Rate

83%

Retention Rate

56%

ACT Midpoint

17

Full-Time Faculty

100%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$8,174

Student–Faculty Ratio

17:1

Diversity Index

0.18

First-Gen Students

36%

Applicants

6,833

Admitted

5,733

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2025-26

The acceptance rate tells you how hard South Carolina State University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 11% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

11%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

2%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

9%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend South Carolina State University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at South Carolina State University is $21,750, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $18,097. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $16,846 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $31,000 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$11,060

Out-of-State

$21,750

Avg Net Price

$18,097

Median Debt

$31,000

Pell Grant Rate

70%

Federal Loan Rate

67%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at South Carolina State University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is South Carolina State University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of South Carolina State University report median earnings of $38,262, a figure worth comparing against the cost of attendance before enrolling.

6 Years After Entry

$30,064

8 Years

$34,470

10 Years

$38,262

Debt-to-Earnings

0.81x

Earning > $25K

40%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does South Carolina State University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

South Carolina State University is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.68%, well above the typical college. About 9.4% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 18% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $85,400, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.68%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

18.0%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

9.4%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$116,029

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is South Carolina State University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs around the national average at South Carolina State University. Its economic connectedness score is 0.89, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (-0.06), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 2% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

0.89

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

-0.06

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

2.5%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

South Carolina State University produces inventors at a measurable rate, with 42 patents tied to its graduates, and ranks among research universities with a 29/100 research score.

Inventor Rate

0.19%

Top 78% nationally

Patents Produced

42

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

148

Downstream influence

Research Score

29/100

Times Higher Ed

Academic Influence

52/100

Citation impact (THE)

Industry Engagement

27/100

Knowledge transfer (THE)

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Investment Income

$600,597

Top Programs

The fields South Carolina State University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 17% $42,942 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 12% $29,935 early-career
• Criminal Justice 8% $31,312 early-career
• Education 7% $40,898 early-career
• Health Professions 5% $38,275 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 5%
• Communications 5% $27,732 early-career
• Computer Science & IT 4% $39,121 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.