Best Value Colleges in South Carolina
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical South Carolina high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 23 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 2.1 years at the fastest to 18.9 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 4.2 years to repay its net price, 1.0 years longer than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (9) have a median payback of 2.8 years against 4.7 years for the 14 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
Citadel Military College of South Carolina ranks first at 2.1 years, ahead of Clemson University (2.2 years) and Wofford College (2.4 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in South Carolina
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; South Carolina has 23
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 23 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC Public · 4-year | 2.1 years | $20,723 | $74,517 | $21,096 | 74% |
| 2 | Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 4-year | 2.2 years | $22,253 | $75,142 | $21,500 | 87% |
| 3 | Wofford College Spartanburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.4 years | $18,732 | $65,763 | $25,732 | 82% |
| 4 | University of South Carolina-Upstate Spartanburg, SC Public · 4-year | 2.6 years | $13,557 | $55,994 | $22,310 | 43% |
| 5 | Francis Marion University Florence, SC Public · 4-year | 2.6 years | $11,386 | $52,141 | $27,000 | 43% |
| 6 | University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC Public · 4-year | 2.8 years | $22,811 | $67,741 | $21,500 | 78% |
| 7 | College of Charleston Charleston, SC Public · 4-year | 3.2 years | $18,960 | $58,354 | $23,250 | 65% |
| 8 | Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC Public · 4-year | 3.2 years | $13,966 | $52,398 | $23,750 | 50% |
| 9 | Southern Wesleyan University Central, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $15,464 | $52,228 | $26,000 | 52% |
| 10 | Presbyterian College Clinton, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $20,528 | $57,042 | $26,000 | 56% |
| 11 | Furman University Greenville, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.1 years | $30,308 | $64,492 | $23,250 | 80% |
| 12 | Columbia College (SC) Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.2 years | $18,408 | $52,308 | $22,750 | 45% |
| 13 | Winthrop University Rock Hill, SC Public · 4-year | 4.4 years | $15,343 | $48,693 | $26,975 | 59% |
| 14 | Charleston Southern University Charleston, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.4 years | $21,666 | $54,684 | $26,471 | 48% |
| 15 | Anderson University (SC) Anderson, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.5 years | $23,544 | $55,541 | $26,700 | 67% |
| 16 | Erskine College Due West, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.9 years | $16,525 | $48,305 | $27,000 | 47% |
| 17 | Lander University Greenwood, SC Public · 4-year | 5.0 years | $15,363 | $47,003 | $25,000 | 49% |
| 18 | Newberry College Newberry, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.6 years | $21,656 | $50,324 | $26,805 | 45% |
| 19 | Bob Jones University Greenville, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.9 years | $16,641 | $46,177 | $16,585 | 67% |
| 20 | Claflin University Orangeburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 7.8 years | $17,800 | $43,925 | $29,000 | 50% |
| 21 | North Greenville University Tigerville, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.6 years | $21,063 | $44,607 | $23,082 | 55% |
| 22 | Converse University Spartanburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 9.2 years | $23,283 | $44,925 | $27,000 | 54% |
| 23 | Columbia International University Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | 18.9 years | $26,036 | $40,332 | $20,000 | 55% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
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