Notes

These are items that bear looking into more closely.

• This institution’s six year bachelors graduation rate is 42.4%, so approximately 3/5 of undergrads who enroll do not earn a bachelors degree from here.

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: Small Programs

• Undergrad program: Professions plus arts & sciences, some graduate coexistence

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

• Enrollment profile: High undergraduate (see more details below)

• Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $11,872 . This is 60% the average 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: 87% 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: 42.4% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)

• Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 25.2%

• Percent of students seeking a Bachelors who transfer out of this institution: 39.8%

• Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: 19.6 (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]

• Student to faculty ratio: 15.3 (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, Master’s degree

• Schedule: Semester

• Institution provides on campus housing: Yes

• Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 986 students

• Freshmen required to live on campus: No

• Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes

• Disabilities: 3 percent or less 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.

• University of South Carolina Aiken lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: Farmingdale State College, Winthrop University, Lander University, Glenville State University, Athens State University, Shepherd University, Indiana University-East, Francis Marion University, Indiana University-Kokomo, University of West Alabama, Western Colorado University, Concord University, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, The Evergreen State College
• University of South Carolina Aiken compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: Wayne State College, Missouri Western State University, Chadron State College, Charter Oak State College, Minot State University, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Rogers State University, College of Charleston, Ramapo College of New Jersey, University of Arkansas at Monticello, East Central University, Christopher Newport University, Southern Arkansas University Main Campus, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, West Liberty University, Peru State College, Shawnee State University, Coastal Carolina University, New Mexico Highlands University, SUNY at Purchase College, Dakota State University, University of Mary Washington, University of Montevallo, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, University of North Carolina Asheville, Dickinson State University, Valley City State University, Longwood University, Westfield State University, The University of Tennessee-Martin, University of South Carolina-Upstate, The University of Texas at Tyler, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Northern State University, University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, University of Minnesota-Crookston, The University of Texas Permian Basin, Fitchburg State University, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Georgia Southwestern State University, California State University-Monterey Bay, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Mayville State University, Keene State College, SUNY College at Potsdam, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Maine Maritime Academy, Lake Superior State University, University of Minnesota-Morris, University of Illinois Springfield, SUNY Old Westbury, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, Fort Lewis College, Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College, Plymouth State University, University of Maine at Farmington, California State University Maritime Academy, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Delta State University, Mississippi University for Women, Lewis-Clark State College, University of Baltimore, University of Wisconsin-Superior, University of Houston-Victoria, University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online, Texas A&M University-Texarkana, Montana State University-Northern, West Virginia State University, University of Pittsburgh-Bradford, University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, University of Maine at Presque Isle
• These institutions compare themselves to University of South Carolina Aiken, but not vice versa: University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo, Eastern Connecticut State University, Winston-Salem State University, Louisiana State University-Alexandria, Indiana University-Southeast, University of Hawaii at Hilo, University of South Carolina Beaufort, Midwestern State University, Lincoln University, Bluefield State University, University of Hawaii-West Oahu

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