Colleges in South Carolina With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Median earnings four years after graduation at the 30 four-year colleges we rank in South Carolina run from $75,142 at the top to $36,436 at the bottom, a spread of $38,706.
The median college sits at $51,233, which is $8,171 (14%) below the national median of $59,403. Private nonprofit colleges (18) have a median of $48,120 and public colleges (12) a median of $52,849, and the typical net price across the list is $18,329.
Clemson University ranks first at $75,142, ahead of Citadel Military College of South Carolina ($74,517) and University of South Carolina-Columbia ($67,741).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest 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)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; South Carolina has 30
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- 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.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 30 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 4-year | $75,142 | $22,253 | $21,500 | 87% | 23,300 |
| 2 | Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC Public · 4-year | $74,517 | $20,723 | $21,096 | 74% | 2,705 |
| 3 | University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC Public · 4-year | $67,741 | $22,811 | $21,500 | 78% | 29,820 |
| 4 | Wofford College Spartanburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $65,763 | $18,732 | $25,732 | 82% | 1,816 |
| 5 | Furman University Greenville, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,492 | $30,308 | $23,250 | 80% | 2,379 |
| 6 | College of Charleston Charleston, SC Public · 4-year | $58,354 | $18,960 | $23,250 | 65% | 10,558 |
| 7 | Presbyterian College Clinton, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $57,042 | $20,528 | $26,000 | 56% | 852 |
| 8 | University of South Carolina-Upstate Spartanburg, SC Public · 4-year | $55,994 | $13,557 | $22,310 | 43% | 4,038 |
| 9 | Anderson University (SC) Anderson, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $55,541 | $23,544 | $26,700 | 67% | 3,183 |
| 10 | Charleston Southern University Charleston, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $54,684 | $21,666 | $26,471 | 48% | 2,893 |
| 11 | University of South Carolina Aiken Aiken, SC Public · 4-year | $53,299 | $11,641 | $24,275 | 40% | 2,962 |
| 12 | Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC Public · 4-year | $52,398 | $13,966 | $23,750 | 50% | 10,377 |
| 13 | Columbia College (SC) Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $52,308 | $18,408 | $22,750 | 45% | 1,343 |
| 14 | Southern Wesleyan University Central, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $52,228 | $15,464 | $26,000 | 52% | 747 |
| 15 | Francis Marion University Florence, SC Public · 4-year | $52,141 | $11,386 | $27,000 | 43% | 2,628 |
| 16 | Newberry College Newberry, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $50,324 | $21,656 | $26,805 | 45% | 1,479 |
| 17 | University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC Public · 4-year | $49,235 | $14,656 | $24,000 | 36% | 2,052 |
| 18 | Winthrop University Rock Hill, SC Public · 4-year | $48,693 | $15,343 | $26,975 | 59% | 3,523 |
| 19 | Erskine College Due West, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $48,305 | $16,525 | $27,000 | 47% | 766 |
| 20 | Coker University Hartsville, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $47,935 | $20,286 | $26,000 | 38% | 840 |
| 21 | Lander University Greenwood, SC Public · 4-year | $47,003 | $15,363 | $25,000 | 49% | 3,397 |
| 22 | South Carolina State University Orangeburg, SC Public · 4-year | $46,691 | $18,097 | $31,000 | 33% | 2,934 |
| 23 | Bob Jones University Greenville, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $46,177 | $16,641 | $16,585 | 67% | 2,005 |
| 24 | Converse University Spartanburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $44,925 | $23,283 | $27,000 | 54% | 1,173 |
| 25 | North Greenville University Tigerville, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $44,607 | $21,063 | $23,082 | 55% | 1,819 |
| 26 | Claflin University Orangeburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $43,925 | $17,800 | $29,000 | 50% | 1,706 |
| 27 | Benedict College Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $41,293 | $18,250 | $32,500 | 23% | 1,536 |
| 28 | Columbia International University Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $40,332 | $26,036 | $20,000 | 55% | 716 |
| 29 | Spartanburg Methodist College Spartanburg, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $36,778 | $14,580 | $12,000 | 41% | 1,116 |
| 30 | Allen University Columbia, SC Private nonprofit · 4-year | $36,436 | $10,972 | $34,290 | 13% | 576 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
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Same list in nearby states
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All 44 colleges in South Carolina See the national version of this ranking