🎓 College profile
University of South Carolina-Columbia
SC · Public · Mid-size city · 46,682 applicants 2023
🎯 Parent/student verdict
MatchSolid match for academically prepared students. Major value play for in-state residents.
✅ Best for
- Solid academic profile (SAT 1180–1380 · ACT 26–32 middle 50% + typically a 3.7+ unweighted GPA in rigorous coursework)
- In-state residents (tuition ~$12,688 — major value play)
- Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
- Students who thrive in a large, programmatic environment
🎯 The reality
- Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1180, or ACT below 26, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
- Out-of-state tuition is 2.8× the in-state rate
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
📊 Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
💰 True ROI
6.8× returnWhat families actually pay (after aid) vs. the sticker — and how 10-yr earnings stack against the real cost. Most sites quote sticker; we quote what families really pay.
"True ROI" = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (actual 4-yr net price). The actual net is from Scorecard (average across all families); your family's net price will vary by income — see the breakdown above. Earnings are 10 years after enrollment (Scorecard PP-FOS, all majors combined).
💰 What families actually pay
Net price by family income
Net price = sticker price minus grant aid. This is what families actually pay out-of-pocket after scholarships and need-based aid — the most honest affordability signal there is. At University of South Carolina-Columbia, the average net price is $22,811/yr across all families.
🔎 Earning over $110K? The federal brackets above lump every family from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Need-based aid usually phases out somewhere between $200K and $300K at private colleges — but the exact threshold varies a lot. For a precise estimate based on your family's actual income, assets, and your student's academic profile, use University of South Carolina-Columbia's official Net Price Calculator:
Get your family's estimate from University of South Carolina-Columbia →Opens on University of South Carolina-Columbia's site. Takes about 10–15 minutes; have your most recent tax return handy.
Source: College Scorecard (NPT41-NPT45). Net price = total cost of attendance minus federal, state, institutional, and other grants. Some brackets may be suppressed for student-privacy reasons (small cohorts). Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates only. The $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — Department of Education hasn't refreshed these brackets since the early 2010s.
📚 What students study here
Most popular majors at University of South Carolina-Columbia
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what University of South Carolina-Columbia actually graduates — not just what it markets.
Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.
💼 Top programs by earnings
Highest-earning majors at University of South Carolina-Columbia
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major (CIP code). From the federal College Scorecard program-level outcomes.
| Major (CIP) | Credential | Cohort | 1-yr earnings | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 40 | $73,982 | $109,116 |
| International Business. | Bachelor's Degree | 172 | $70,992 | $107,205 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 38 | $77,161 | $100,042 |
| Chemical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 56 | $75,680 | $98,244 |
| Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | 198 | $68,804 | $98,020 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 47 | $57,311 | $97,927 |
| Insurance. | Bachelor's Degree | 119 | $63,417 | $96,539 |
| Business/Managerial Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | 72 | $62,692 | $94,547 |
| Finance and Financial Management Services. | Bachelor's Degree | 608 | $62,231 | $92,578 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 183 | $72,370 | $91,296 |
For full college-vs-major comparison + ROI leaderboards, see /college-outcomes →
🤖 AI program signal
AI + computing education at University of South Carolina-Columbia
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
⚖️ Compare side-by-side
University of South Carolina-Columbia vs. another college
Type the college you want to compare against. We'll show admit rates, net price by your family income, top majors with career outcomes, and merit aid — all in one side-by-side view.
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