University Of South Carolina-Columbia

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The University of South Carolina is a public, coeducational, research university located in Columbia, South Carolina. Its historic campus sits on 359 acres, but the university is expanding West toward the Congaree River in support of its research initiatives.

In addition to the main campus, there are four-year campuses in Aiken, Beaufort, and Upstate and four two-year campuses.

USC was founded as South Carolina College in 1801. The school underwent a number of name changes but was permanently chartered in 1906 by its present name.

The University of South Carolina is ranked No. 52 in the nation among public universities, according to the U.S. News & World Report's 2009 "America's Best Colleges" guide. It was also listed as No. 9 among the nation's "Most Promising and Innovative Schools", a first-time category.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has designated USC an institution of "very high research activity"--the only university in the state to earn that designation.

The university's Columbia campus offers more than 350 degree programs through the following academic divisions:

Arnold School of Public Health
College of Arts and Sciences
College of Education
College of Engineering and Computing
College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management
College of Mass Communications and Information Studies
College of Nursing
College of Pharmacy
College of Social Work
Moore School of Business
School of Law
School of Medicine
School of Music
School of the Environment
South Carolina Honors College
The Graduate School

USC's student body consists of students from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries. Carolina has an active Greek life with more than 10 fraternities and more 7 sororities.

USC famous alumni include Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush; Lindsay Graham, U.S. Senator; Judy Clarke, federal public defender; David King, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center; Mike Dunleavy, coach of NBA's Los Angeles Clippers; Alex English, member of Basketball Hall of Fame; Shannon Johnson, second all-time leading scorer in women's basketball history; John Fain, president of Fain Enterprises; W. W. "Hootie" Johnson, chair of executive committee of Bank of America Corp; Robert Ariail, nationally syndicated political cartoonist; Leeza Gibbons, TV celebrity, Emmy winner; Jim Hoagland, Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent; actor Brenda Pressley; and Jennifer Walker, one of first 100 women in United States to be certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgeons, at Massachusetts General.

Campus Location

Columbia, SC 29208
USA
Main Tel: (803) 777-7000
Web Site

The campus is in a medium-sized city.

Degrees Awarded (in 2008-2009)

Degree	Total Earned	Different Programs
Bachelor	3,823	77
Master	1,574	95
First-professional degree	396	3
Doctorale	243	60
Post-master's certificate	68	6
Postbaccalaureate certificate	47	17
2-4 year degree	13	1
Associate	11	1

Students

Student enrollment was 27,272 in 2007-2008 (23,449 full-time equivalent).

About 43% of the freshmen class in 2008-2009 was male and women were 57% of the class.

Undergrads are 66% of enrolled students, graduate students are 29%, and those seeking first-professional graduate degrees represent 5%.

About 1% of freshmen are from countries other than the US. Students living in the US make up 99% of incoming freshmen.

Among freshmen students, 99% are full-time and 1% are part-time.

Tuition and Other Costs (2008-2009)

Item	Cost
State Tuition and fees	$ 8,838
Out-of-state tuition and fees	$ 22,908
Room	$ 4,526
Board	$ 2,792
Books and supplies	$ 936
Other	$ 3,935

Financial Aid: University Of South Carolina participates in US Title IV financial assistance programs.

Please refer to BrainTrack's financial aid articles section for background information.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to University Of South Carolina-Columbia:

Schools Similar to University Of South Carolina

	School	Location	Enrollment
1	The University of Tennessee	Knoxville, TN	29,937
2	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Lincoln, NE	22,973
3	University at Buffalo	Buffalo, NY	28,054
4	University of Utah	Salt Lake City, UT	28,025
5	University of Kentucky	Lexington, KY	25,856
6	University of Arkansas Main Campus	Fayetteville, AR	18,648
7	University of Georgia	Athens, GA	33,831
8	University of California-Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara, CA	21,410
9	University of Oklahoma Norman Campus	Norman, OK	26,068
10	Washington State University	Pullman, WA	24,396

Admissions (2008-2009)

Applicants	Admitted
Men	58%
Women	60%
All	59%

SAT Test Scores:

SAT	Middle 50%
Verbal	530-630
Math	550-650

Faculty

Tenure (2008-2009):

Full-Time Faculty		Total
With tenure		615
Without tenure; working toward tenure		385
Without tenure; tenure not available		513

Housing and Meals

University Of South Carolina provides on-campus housing for 6,115 of its 23,449 (full-time) students (as of 2008-2009). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 21 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Southeastern Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 208 male students received the aid (men were 57% of those receiving aid) and 158 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 43% of students receiving such aid) .

Highlights

Compared to other schools:

University Of South Carolina-Columbia Highlights

Many students concentrating in nutrition and exercise therapy, hospitality, music, and media.
Large number of programs of study offered.
Large number of students.
High faculty salary.
Good faculty-to-student ratio.

Other important characteristics:

Faculty tenure system.
Library on-campus.
Campus housing available.
Student meal (board) plan.
Study abroad option.
Distance learning available.
Weekend study option.
Part-time classes available.
ROTC.
Athlete financial aid.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2008-2009 in parentheses)

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (1,023 awarded)

Accounting
Business Administration and Management
Business/Managerial Economics
Finance
Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration
Insurance
International Business/Trade/Commerce
Management Science
Marketing/Marketing Management
Retailing and Retail Operations

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (73 awarded)

Computer Engineering
Computer Software Engineering
Computer and Information Sciences
Computer and Information Systems Security
Information Science/Studies

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (36 awarded)

Dance
Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (651 awarded)

Art Teacher Education
Business Teacher Education
College Student Counseling and Personnel Services
Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services
Curriculum and Instruction
Early Childhood Education and Teaching
Education
Educational Evaluation and Research
Educational Leadership and Administration
Educational/Instructional Media Design
Elementary Education and Teaching
Health Teacher Education
Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education and Teaching
Music Teacher Education
Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
Reading Teacher Education
Secondary Education and Teaching
Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education
Special Education and Teaching

ENGINEERING (254 awarded)

Archeology
Biomedical/Medical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Nuclear Engineering

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (220 awarded)

Public Administration
Social Work

FINE ARTS (71 awarded)

Art History, Criticism and Conservation
Fine/Studio Arts

HOSPITALITY (196 awarded)

Hospitality Administration/Management
Tourism and Travel Services Management

LAW (213 awarded)

Law (LLB, JD)

LIBERAL ARTS (1,128 awarded)

African-American/Black Studies
Anthropology
Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
Comparative Literature
Creative Writing
Economics
English Language and Literature
European Studies/Civilization
Foreign Languages and Literatures
French Language and Literature
Geography
German Language and Literature
History
International Relations and Affairs
Italian Language and Literature
Latin American Studies
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
Library Science/Librarianship
Linguistics
Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
Museology/Museum Studies
Political Science and Government
Public/Applied History and Archival Administration
Russian Language and Literature
Social Sciences
Sociology
Spanish Language and Literature
Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (75 awarded)

Applied Mathematics
Mathematics
Statistics

MEDIA (364 awarded)

Advertising
Broadcast Journalism
Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia
Health Communication
Journalism
Mass Communication/Media Studies
Public Relations/Image Management

MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION (58 awarded)

Environmental Health
Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management
Public Health Education and Promotion

MEDICAL SUPPORT AND TECHNOLOGY (45 awarded)

Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist
Cardiovascular Technology/Technologist
Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist

MEDICINE (222 awarded)

Gerontology
Medicine (MD)
Pharmaceutics and Drug Design (MS, PhD)
Pharmacy (PharmD [USA], PharmD or BS/BPharm [Canada])
Public Health, General (MPH, DPH)
Public Health

MUSIC (103 awarded)

Conducting
Music History, Literature, and Theory
Music Performance
Music Theory and Composition
Music
Voice and Opera

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (220 awarded)

Nurse Anesthetist
Nursing Administration (MSN, MS, PhD)
Nursing Science (MS, PhD)
Nursing
Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (245 awarded)

Kinesiology and Exercise Science
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions
Sport and Fitness Administration/Management

OFFICE AND ADMINISTRATION (35 awarded)

Office Management and Supervision

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (102 awarded)

Film/Cinema Studies
Film/Video and Photographic Arts

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (19 awarded)

Real Estate

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (37 awarded)

Philosophy
Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (402 awarded)

Biology/Biological Sciences
Biomedical Sciences
Biostatistics
Chemistry
Epidemiology
Geology/Earth Science
Geophysics and Seismology
Human/Medical Genetics
Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
Physical Sciences
Physics

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (139 awarded)

Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration
Criminology

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (244 awarded)

Clinical Psychology
Experimental Psychology
Physical Therapy/Therapist
School Psychology
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling

Selected Careers of Interest

(Based on an automated mapping of degrees popular at University Of South Carolina with government-defined occupation categories.)

Click occupations below for career details, including job description, studies, degree requirements, how to evaluate schools, and more.

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