Notes

These are items that bear looking into more closely.

• This institution’s six year bachelors graduation rate is 64.7%, so approximately 2/5 of undergrads who enroll do not earn a bachelors degree from here.

• This institution’s full-time undergraduate enrollment has tended to decrease over time.

Overview of institution

This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.

• Institution kind: Master’s Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs

• Undergrad program: Balanced arts & sciences/professions, some graduate coexistence

• Graduate program: Postbaccalaureate: Business-dominant, with Arts & Sciences

• Enrollment profile: Very high undergraduate (see more details below)

• Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $21,120 (1.1 times the equivalent cost of Harvard).

• Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.

• Size and setting: Four-year, medium, primarily residential

• In state percentage: 44% of first year students come from South Carolina

• In US percentage: 99% of first year students come from the US

• Graduation rate (within 6 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 64.7% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)

• Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 56.7%

• Percent of students seeking a Bachelors who transfer out of this institution: 26.4%

• Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: 22.0 (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]

• Student to faculty ratio: 18.2 (undergrads to all faculty)

• Degrees offered: Certificate of less than 1 year, Certificate of at least 12 weeks but less than 1 year, Bachelor’s degree, Postbaccalaureate certificate, Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: research scholarship

• Schedule: Semester

• Institution provides on campus housing: Yes

• Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 3097 students

• Freshmen required to live on campus: No

• Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes

• Disabilities: 11.30 percent of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.

Map

Comparisons

The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. In fields where there is a common view that higher (or lower) values are better, the best values are in blue, the worst values are in red. If there isn’t a sense of a particular value being better, values are shown in varying shades of green. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.

• College of Charleston lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: The University of Tampa, Truman State University, James Madison University, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Appalachian State University, Eastern Kentucky University, Elon University, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Western Washington University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, University of Northern Iowa, Winthrop University, Southeastern Louisiana University, University of Mary Washington, Central Washington University, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Florida Gulf Coast University
• College of Charleston compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: Tulane University of Louisiana, Boston College, Wake Forest University, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, Clemson University, University of South Carolina-Columbia, CUNY Bernard M Baruch College, The College of New Jersey, University of Vermont, CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, University of North Florida, Miami University-Oxford, University of Central Oklahoma, Rowan University, Tennessee Technological University, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Minnesota State University-Mankato, CUNY Brooklyn College, Furman University, University of New Hampshire-Main Campus, University of Missouri-St Louis, CUNY Lehman College, Texas Southmost College, CUNY Queens College, Montana State University, CUNY City College, Arkansas State University, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Tarleton State University, University of Central Missouri, Montclair State University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Fort Hays State University, University of Alaska Anchorage, SUNY College at Geneseo, University of West Georgia, Central Connecticut State University, Northern Kentucky University, Youngstown State University, Murray State University, Western Carolina University, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Kean University, Southeast Missouri State University, University of Central Arkansas, Saginaw Valley State University, California State University-San Bernardino, Ferris State University, Bridgewater State University, California State University-Chico, Stephen F Austin State University, Southern Connecticut State University, Western Illinois University, California State University-San Marcos, University of North Carolina Asheville, Eastern Washington University, Marshall University, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, University of Maine, College of Staten Island CUNY, Arkansas Tech University, Austin Peay State University, Morehead State University, Troy University, Valdosta State University, California State University-Dominguez Hills, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Saint Cloud State University, Northeastern Illinois University, California State University-East Bay, SUNY Buffalo State University, Empire State University
• These institutions compare themselves to College of Charleston, but not vice versa: Grand Valley State University, Georgia Southern University, Georgia College & State University, Samford University, Stockton University, SUNY Brockport, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Belmont University, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Coastal Carolina University, Citadel Military College of South Carolina, Rutgers University-Camden, Queens University of Charlotte, University of South Carolina Aiken, New College of Florida, University of Illinois Springfield, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Lenoir-Rhyne University, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, Spartanburg Methodist College

Enrollment

General

Teaching

Tenure track faculty are those who are eligible for tenure. This includes both pre-tenure and tenured faculty. Once faculty get tenure, they are (generally) protected from being fired for intellectual reasons, helping to ensure their freedom in teaching and research. They can still lose their positions for misconduct, financial problems, not fulfilling their duties, or other reasons.

Non-tenure track faculty are not eligible for tenure. Some are hired one semester at a time, some have multi-year contracts. They typically have a higher teaching load than tenure track faculty, leaving less time for research or other creative endeavors. They are also easier to fire than tenured faculty. Sometimes they are external experts (a noted musician, a former senator) who are hired to teach some classes without the expected permanence of a tenure-track position.

Note that this chart uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.

Having a low student to faculty ratio is considered a good thing by many, as it can mean more individual attention.

Geography

This has information on the location of the institution. See the about page for more information on what the metrics are and how they are calculated.

Financial Aid

Graduation

Note these are bachelors graduation rates in six years, not four (this is standard). Sample sizes can be small for some demographic groups with few individuals in a school, leading to large year-to-year fluctuations and often extreme values for those groups (if there are two individuals in the class with a given identity, the possible graduation rates are 0%, 50%, or 100% depending on whether zero, one, or both students graduate within six years).

Library

Libraries are changing rapidly. Note that how institutions count digital collections may vary.

Diversity

The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.

Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).

These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.

Overall diversity

Freshman profile

Demographic data for first time degree-seeking students. Note that this uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.

Freshman geography

Test scores

SAT scores

ACT scores

Majors

This presents information on the number of majors and the median earnings one and five years after graduation for people who got a degree from this institution in that field. The earnings are for those who are working and not enrolled in further education. The earnings data (from the federal college scorecard) also has information on earnings for those categorized as ‘MALE’ and ‘NOMALE’ – for readability, these are recategorized here as “Men” and “Women”, respectively, which adopts the gender binary used in other federal data. “W/M earnings ratio” is the median earnings of women divided by men, as a percentage.

Bachelors

Masters

Doctorate

Certificate

Associates