Skip to content
CollegeRanker

Rankings / By State

Best Education Colleges in South Carolina

By David Krug, Co-Founder, CollegeRanker · Updated 2026-05-31 · 23 schools · Agent Insights
23
Schools Analyzed
$47,659
Avg. Earnings (10yr)
53%
Avg. Graduation Rate
$18,860
Avg. Net Price

Find Your Program

Explore Accredited Programs in This Field

Find accredited programs in this field accepting applicants.

✓ Accredited programs ✓ 100% free ✓ No obligation

This ranking scores 23 institutions on graduation rates, graduate earnings, debt burdens, and social mobility data from Opportunity Insights. Every data point comes from federal sources. No surveys, no opinions.

Social mobility carries the heaviest weight in our algorithm. We use Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card — built on 30 million anonymized tax records — to measure whether a college changes a family's economic trajectory across generations. Schools that take low-income students and launch them into higher earnings rank higher than schools that admit wealthy students and take credit for their success.

The transparency penalty matters here. Schools that don't report their data get scored lower than schools that do. If an institution won't show you its numbers, we think you should know that before you write them a tuition check.

Quick Numbers

Schools ranked 23
Avg. earnings at 10yr $47,659
Avg. graduation rate 53%
Avg. net price $18,860
Avg. median debt $24,857

How We Ranked

Education programs in South Carolina ranked by outcomes and program concentration

Read our full methodology →

Earnings vs. Cost

Each dot is a ranked school. Up = higher earnings. Right = higher cost. Top-left is the best value.

$15K$68K$120K$0$50KNET PRICENorth GreenvilleFurman UniversityClemson UniversityWinthrop UniversitySouthern Wesleyan

Graduation Rates

Longer bars = higher graduation rate.

North Greenville Univers…55%Furman University80%Clemson University87%Winthrop University59%Southern Wesleyan Univer…52%Converse University54%College of Charleston65%Presbyterian College56%Erskine College47%Coastal Carolina Univers…50%Francis Marion University43%Lander University49%Charleston Southern Univ…48%Newberry College45%Columbia International U…55%South Carolina State Uni…33%Claflin University50%Anderson University67%Coker University38%Bob Jones University67%

Sponsored

Featured Programs From Accredited Schools

Accredited schools accepting applicants in this field.

Ad

Full Rankings

#1

North Greenville University

Tigerville, SC · 1,819 students · Private nonprofit

67% accepted 55% graduate $43,035 earnings
North's full profile
#2

Furman University

Greenville, SC · 2,379 students · Private nonprofit

43% accepted 80% graduate $68,635 earnings
Furman's full profile
#3

Clemson University

Clemson, SC · 23,300 students · Public

38% accepted 87% graduate $71,513 earnings
Clemson's full profile
#4

Winthrop University

Rock Hill, SC · 3,523 students · Public

79% accepted 59% graduate $47,185 earnings
Winthrop's full profile
#5

Southern Wesleyan University

Central, SC · 747 students · Private nonprofit

100% accepted 52% graduate $47,756 earnings
Southern's full profile
#6

Converse University

Spartanburg, SC · 1,173 students · Private nonprofit

68% accepted 54% graduate $40,867 earnings
Converse's full profile
#7

College of Charleston

Charleston, SC · 10,558 students · Public

60% accepted 65% graduate $56,416 earnings
College's full profile
#8

Presbyterian College

Clinton, SC · 852 students · Private nonprofit

68% accepted 56% graduate $60,194 earnings
Presbyterian's full profile
#9

Erskine College

Due West, SC · 766 students · Private nonprofit

63% accepted 47% graduate $53,459 earnings
Erskine's full profile
#10

Coastal Carolina University

Conway, SC · 10,377 students · Public

75% accepted 50% graduate $47,258 earnings
Coastal's full profile
#11

Francis Marion University

Florence, SC · 2,628 students · Public

86% accepted 43% graduate $43,888 earnings
Francis's full profile
#12

Lander University

Greenwood, SC · 3,397 students · Public

81% accepted 49% graduate $42,396 earnings
Lander's full profile
#13

Charleston Southern University

Charleston, SC · 2,893 students · Private nonprofit

96% accepted 48% graduate $45,898 earnings
Charleston's full profile
#14

Newberry College

Newberry, SC · 1,479 students · Private nonprofit

90% accepted 45% graduate $48,040 earnings
Newberry's full profile
#15

Columbia International University

Columbia, SC · 716 students · Private nonprofit

94% accepted 55% graduate $38,951 earnings
Columbia's full profile
#16

South Carolina State University

Orangeburg, SC · 2,934 students · Public

83% accepted 33% graduate $38,262 earnings
South's full profile
#17

Claflin University

Orangeburg, SC · 1,706 students · Private nonprofit

65% accepted 50% graduate $40,304 earnings
Claflin's full profile
#18

Anderson University

Anderson, SC · 3,183 students · Private nonprofit

55% accepted 67% graduate $42,101 earnings
Anderson's full profile
#19

Coker University

Hartsville, SC · 840 students · Private nonprofit

94% accepted 38% graduate $40,117 earnings
Coker's full profile
#20

Bob Jones University

Greenville, SC · 2,005 students · Private nonprofit

67% graduate $44,354 earnings
Bob's full profile
#21

University of South Carolina-Upstate

Spartanburg, SC · 4,038 students · Public

67% accepted 43% graduate $48,587 earnings
University's full profile
#22

University of South Carolina Aiken

Aiken, SC · 2,962 students · Public

79% accepted 40% graduate $45,603 earnings
University's full profile
#23

Columbia College

Columbia, SC · 1,343 students · Private nonprofit

94% accepted 45% graduate $41,338 earnings
Columbia's full profile

Sources & Citations

[1]

U.S. Department of Education. College Scorecard Data. Federal Student Aid, National Center for Education Statistics.

[2]

National Center for Education Statistics. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

DK

David Krug

Co-Founder, CollegeRanker

David Krug is the co-founder of CollegeRanker and a data systems architect focused on making institutional research accessible to families. He builds the data pipelines and ranking algorithms that power CollegeRanker, drawing from federal datasets and Raj Chetty's Opportunity Insights research to measure what traditional rankings ignore: whether a college actually changes a family's economic trajectory.