Enrollment Trends for South Carolina Colleges

There are 46 active four-years colleges and universities in South Carolina - 14 public and 32 private schools. In the academic year 2022-2023, a total of 169,924 students have enrolled in four-years colleges in South Carolina including undergraduate and graduate programs. Compared to the population of 10 years ago, the the number of students increased by 14.31% from 148,649 to 169,924. The undergraduate population increased by 13.61% and the graduate population increased by 17.7% in last 10 years at South Carolina Colleges.

By gender, there are 99,956 female students and 69,968 male students enrolled in the schools. The female to male students ratio is 1.43 to 1. The female students increased by 17% and male students increased by 10.69% in that period.

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Student Population Changes

The average number of students over the past 11 years is 155,062, and 169,924 students were attending the schools in the academic year 2022-2023. Of the total students, 82.26% are undergraduate students and 17.74% are graduate students. Over the past 11, the number of undergraduate students increased by 16,741, and the graduate student enrollment increased by 4,534.

The female to male ratio is 1.43 to 1, meaning that there are more female students enrolled in South Carolina Colleges than male students.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in student population by gender at South Carolina Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	148,649	123,039	52,996	70,043	25,610	10,217	15,393
2013-14	148,587 -62	123,005 -34	53,511 515	69,494 -549	25,582 -28	10,345 128	15,237 -156
2014-15	150,367 1,780	124,477 1,472	54,117 606	70,360 866	25,890 308	10,447 102	15,443 206
2015-16	152,575 2,208	126,605 2,128	55,325 1,208	71,280 920	25,970 80	10,373 -74	15,597 154
2016-17	153,939 1,364	127,596 991	55,392 67	72,204 924	26,343 373	10,377 4	15,966 369
2017-18	154,854 915	128,415 819	55,296 -96	73,119 915	26,439 96	10,298 -79	16,141 175
2018-19	156,064 1,210	129,318 903	55,393 97	73,925 806	26,746 307	10,482 184	16,264 123
2019-20	157,817 1,753	129,866 548	55,062 -331	74,804 879	27,951 1,205	10,853 371	17,098 834
2020-21	156,178 -1,639	126,775 -3,091	53,482 -1,580	73,293 -1,511	29,403 1,452	11,143 290	18,260 1,162
2021-22	156,732 554	126,309 -466	53,079 -403	73,230 -63	30,423 1,020	11,311 168	19,112 852
2022-23	169,924 13,192	139,780 13,471	58,693 5,614	81,087 7,857	30,144 -279	11,275 -36	18,869 -243
Average	155,062	127,744	54,759	72,985	27,318	10,647	16,671

South Carolina Colleges Student Population Trends Chart

Undergraduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Undergraduate students over the past 11 years is 127,744. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Undergraduate students increased by 16,741 from 123,039 to 139,780.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Undergraduate enrollment by attending status and gender at South Carolina Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	123,039	110,050	47,791	62,259	12,989	5,205	7,784
2013-14	123,005	110,270	48,475	61,795	12,735	5,036	7,699
2014-15	124,477	111,662	49,105	62,557	12,815	5,012	7,803
2015-16	126,605	113,253	49,974	63,279	13,352	5,351	8,001
2016-17	127,596	114,571	50,472	64,099	13,025	4,920	8,105
2017-18	128,415	115,589	50,270	65,319	12,826	5,026	7,800
2018-19	129,318	115,959	50,366	65,593	13,359	5,027	8,332
2019-20	129,866	116,020	49,975	66,045	13,846	5,087	8,759
2020-21	126,775	113,151	48,427	64,724	13,624	5,055	8,569
2021-22	126,309	113,166	48,119	65,047	13,143	4,960	8,183
2022-23	139,780	119,465	50,858	68,607	20,315	7,835	12,480
Average	127,744	127,744	49,439	64,484	127,744	5,319	8,501

South Carolina Colleges Undergraduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Graduate Enrollment Changes

The average number of Graduate students over the past 11 years is 27,318. Compared 11 years ago, the number of Graduate students increased by 4,534 from 25,610 to 30,144.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in Graduate enrollment by attending status and gender at South Carolina Colleges since 2013.

Year	Total	Fulltime			Parttime
Year	Total	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
2012-13	25,610	14,411	6,346	8,065	11,199	3,871	7,328
2013-14	25,582	15,072	6,746	8,326	10,510	3,599	6,911
2014-15	25,890	15,027	6,687	8,340	10,863	3,760	7,103
2015-16	25,970	15,219	6,696	8,523	10,751	3,677	7,074
2016-17	26,343	15,320	6,717	8,603	11,023	3,660	7,363
2017-18	26,439	15,303	6,686	8,617	11,136	3,612	7,524
2018-19	26,746	15,371	6,761	8,610	11,375	3,721	7,654
2019-20	27,951	15,838	6,965	8,873	12,113	3,888	8,225
2020-21	29,403	16,601	7,063	9,538	12,802	4,080	8,722
2021-22	30,423	17,224	7,060	10,164	13,199	4,251	8,948
2022-23	30,144	16,721	6,883	9,838	13,423	4,392	9,031
Average	27,318	27,318	6,783	8,863	27,318	3,865	7,808

South Carolina Colleges Graduate Enrollment Trends Chart

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity Changes

The percentage of white students is 62.88%. The percentage was 64.98% 10 years ago and South Carolina Colleges still has a high percentage of white students. 2.59% of enrolled students is Asian and 17.61% is black students.

The following table and chart illustrate the student population trends by race/ethnicity at South Carolina Colleges over the past 11 years (2012-2023).

Year	American Indian or Native American	Asian	Black	Hispanic	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	White	Two or More Races
Year	2012-13	440	2,495	33,843	4,354	180	96,590	2,792
2013-14	439	2,332	32,743	4,637	166	95,875	3,121
2014-15	459	2,646	32,255	5,134	146	97,081	3,584
2015-16	462	2,770	32,212	5,455	143	98,935	4,006
2016-17	460	2,823	32,158	5,790	164	99,509	4,248
2017-18	480	3,013	31,501	6,197	167	100,427	4,622
2018-19	482	3,088	31,554	6,748	162	99,910	4,830
2019-20	496	3,233	30,790	7,504	151	100,774	5,188
2020-21	458	3,741	29,475	7,895	150	100,169	5,333
2021-22	472	4,035	28,207	8,518	180	100,524	5,427
2022-23	483	4,402	29,931	10,578	185	106,847	5,880
Average	466	3,143	31,334	6,619	163	99,695	4,457

South Carolina Colleges Student Population by Race Trends Chart

Distance Learning (Online Courses) Enrollment Changes

25,497 students are enrolled in online degree programs exclusively for the academic year 2022-2023, which is 15% of total students. The number of online students has increased 341.58% since 2013.

The following table and chart illustrate the changes in the online student population by enrolled type at South Carolina Colleges from 2012 to 2023.

Year	Total Enrollment	Online Completely	Enrolled in Some Online Courses	Not Enrolled in Online Courses
2012-13	148,649	5,774	17,103	125,772
2013-14	148,587	5,499	14,258	128,830
2014-15	150,367	6,329	12,365	131,673
2015-16	152,575	9,446	19,884	123,245
2016-17	153,939	11,163	25,388	117,388
2017-18	154,854	12,495	28,098	114,261
2018-19	156,064	13,957	31,210	110,897
2019-20	157,817	15,338	36,365	106,114
2020-21	156,247	43,521	72,028	40,698
2021-22	156,732	22,207	62,946	71,579
2022-23	169,924	25,497	63,415	81,012
Average	155,069	15,566	34,824	104,679

Most Searched South Carolina Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

Personal Touch Beauty and Barber College Private, Less than 2-years | Kingstree
University of South Carolina-Lancaster Public, 2-4 years | Lancaster
Claflin University Private, four-years | Orangeburg
University of South Carolina-Sumter Public, 2-4 years | Sumter
Clinton College Private, four-years | Rock Hill
Coastal Carolina University Public, four-years | Conway
Columbia International University Private, four-years | Columbia
University of South Carolina-Upstate Public, four-years | Spartanburg
Converse University Private, four-years | Spartanburg
Spartanburg Methodist College Private, four-years | Spartanburg

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Graduate

Personal Touch Beauty and Barber College Private, Less than 2-years | Kingstree
University of South Carolina-Lancaster Public, 2-4 years | Lancaster
Claflin University Private, four-years | Orangeburg
University of South Carolina-Sumter Public, 2-4 years | Sumter
Clinton College Private, four-years | Rock Hill
Coastal Carolina University Public, four-years | Conway
Columbia International University Private, four-years | Columbia
University of South Carolina-Upstate Public, four-years | Spartanburg
Converse University Private, four-years | Spartanburg
Spartanburg Methodist College Private, four-years | Spartanburg

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Online Schools

Personal Touch Beauty and Barber College Private, Less than 2-years | Kingstree
University of South Carolina-Lancaster Public, 2-4 years | Lancaster
Claflin University Private, four-years | Orangeburg
University of South Carolina-Sumter Public, 2-4 years | Sumter
Clinton College Private, four-years | Rock Hill
Coastal Carolina University Public, four-years | Conway
Columbia International University Private, four-years | Columbia
University of South Carolina-Upstate Public, four-years | Spartanburg
Converse University Private, four-years | Spartanburg
Spartanburg Methodist College Private, four-years | Spartanburg

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Technical Colleges

Personal Touch Beauty and Barber College Private, Less than 2-years | Kingstree
University of South Carolina-Lancaster Public, 2-4 years | Lancaster
Claflin University Private, four-years | Orangeburg
University of South Carolina-Sumter Public, 2-4 years | Sumter
Clinton College Private, four-years | Rock Hill
Coastal Carolina University Public, four-years | Conway
Columbia International University Private, four-years | Columbia
University of South Carolina-Upstate Public, four-years | Spartanburg
Converse University Private, four-years | Spartanburg
Spartanburg Methodist College Private, four-years | Spartanburg

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