The 10 best colleges & universities in SC, new ranking shows. Neither Clemson or USC are #1

If you want to attend the best college in South Carolina, becoming a tiger or gamecock should maybe not be your first choice.

WalletHub, a major personal finance website, recently unveiled its rankings of best colleges and universities in South Carolina. While Clemson University and the University of South Carolina were in the top five, neither took first place.

Instead, Wofford College earned the honor of best college in the state.

The South Carolina schools were part of a larger report, in which WalletHub compared more than 800 higher-education institutions in the U.S. on 30 key measures grouped into seven categories, such as student selectivity, cost and financing and career outcomes. The data set ranges from the ratio of students and faculty to median salaries after graduation.

Clemson ranked third among best colleges in South Carolina while USC followed in fifth place. However, Clemson ranked 133rd and USC ranked 317th overall in the U.S.

Wofford ranked 125th overall in the U.S.

10 Best SC colleges and universities

1. Wofford College
   
   
2. Furman University
   
   
3. Clemson University
   
   
4. Presbyterian College
   
   
5. University of South Carolina
   
   
6. Converse University
   
   
7. Citadel Military College of South Carolina
   
   
8. Winthrop University
   
   
9. College of Charleston
   
   
10. Erskine College
    
    

SC snapshot

Here is a snapshot of how the top three South Carolina higher institutions performed in certain metrics compared to other higher institutions in the state, with a ranking of 1 being the best and a ranking of 20 being the worst. To see the rankings and breakdowns of all universities in the report, click here.

Wofford College

3^rd – Admission Rate

19^th – Net Cost

3^rd – Student-Faculty Ratio

14^th – On-Campus Crime

18^th – Gender & Racial Diversity

2^nd – Graduation Rate

3^rd – Post-Attendance Median Salary

Furman University

2^nd – Admission Rate

20^th – Net Cost

1^st – Student-Faculty Ratio

19^th – On-Campus Crime

17^th – Gender & Racial Diversity

2^nd – Graduation Rate

4^th – Post-Attendance Median Salary

Clemson University

1^st – Admission Rate

18^th – Net Cost

16^th – Student-Faculty Ratio

3^rd – On-Campus Crime

16^th – Gender & Racial Diversity

1^st – Graduation Rate

2^nd – Post-Attendance Median Salary

Patrick McCreless

The State

803-771-8353

Patrick McCreless is the Southeast service journalism editor for McClatchy, who leads and edits a team of six reporters in South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. The team writes about trending news of the day and topics that help readers in their daily lives and better informs them about their communities. He attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama and grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL.