University of South Carolina-Columbia

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of South Carolina-Columbia

University of South Carolina-Columbia operates as a public institution located in Columbia, South Carolina (city: midsize), with a total reported enrollment of 29,820 students of which 30,016 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. University of South Carolina-Columbia is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 60.2%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,297 and an ACT midpoint of 29. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $22,811, with published in-state tuition of $12,688 and a Pell grant recipient share of 19.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $21,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 78.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 92.2%. Graduates earn a median of $62,177 ten years after enrolling, compared with $50,621 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 751700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 72.8% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.