Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
Paying for college in South Carolina
What the state and its colleges give families, who gets it, and how to apply. See every South Carolina college priced for your income
From the state
Across state lines
From the colleges
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
In our South Carolina scenarios, with good parent credit, a SmartTuition plan saves a median of about $6,900 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
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From the state
South Carolina's programs. Most come through the FAFSA or the state's own aid application; a few have their own.
South Carolina Tuition Grants
A need-based grant for South Carolina residents who attend one of the state’s independent colleges full time. The maximum for 2026-2027 is $5,000 a year; the amount depends on need and on the year’s funding.
Source: South Carolina Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission
“the Commission voted unanimously to approve and set the Maximum Tuition Grant at $5,000 for the 2026-2027 Award Year”
“Enroll full-time (at least 12 eligible credit-hours per semester) at one of the 21, eligible by law, independent colleges and universities in the State”
“Have Financial Need as demonstrated by the information provided on the FAFSA.”
“The amount of your South Carolina Tuition Grant is determined by criteria such as income, assets, family size, the cost of attendance at your college, and the amount of money appropriated for the Program.”
LIFE Scholarship
A scholarship for South Carolina residents who graduate with a 3.0 GPA and an SAT of 1100 or the equivalent ACT score, at a four-year public or independent college in the state. A student keeps it with a 3.0 GPA.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 59, Chapter 149
“the student must have graduated from high school with a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade average on a 4.0 scale and, subject to modification as provided in item (2), have scored 1100 or better on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or have the equivalent ACT score as determined by the Commission on Higher Education”
“must earn a 3.0 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale”
SC Need-Based Grant
A grant for South Carolina residents of at least twelve months who have financial need and are in their first degree at a public college, full or part time. A full-time student keeps it by finishing 24 credit hours a year.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 59, Chapter 142
“The State shall fund a need-based grant for a student who enrolls as an undergraduate in a public institution of higher learning in this State, who applies for the need-based grant, and who meets the following qualifications”
“with the additional requirement of at least twelve consecutive months of residency in the State of South Carolina immediately preceding enrollment”
“as a first degree full-time or part-time student”
“is found to be in financial need according to federal Title IV regulations”
“complete a minimum of twenty-four semester hours an academic year if a full-time student”
Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
A scholarship for outstanding South Carolina high school graduates, awarded on scholarship and achievement, at the state's public and independent colleges. Every student who qualifies gets it. The Commission on Higher Education sets the qualifying scores and class rank.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 59, Chapter 104
“retain outstanding South Carolina high school graduates in the State through awards based on scholarship and achievement”
“there is automatically appropriated from the general fund of the State whatever amount is necessary to provide Palmetto Fellows Scholarships to all persons meeting the requirements of this section”
“A Palmetto Fellows Scholarship is available to an eligible resident student who attends or will attend an eligible public or independent institution.”
“The commission shall promulgate regulations and establish procedures to administer the program”
SC HOPE Scholarship
A first-year scholarship for students at a four-year college in South Carolina who don't qualify for LIFE or Palmetto Fellows. It has LIFE's rules without the SAT or ACT score and class rank.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 59, Chapter 150
“during the first year of attendance only, to an eligible student attending a four-year public or independent institution as defined in subsection (B) who does not also qualify for a LIFE Scholarship or a Palmetto Fellows Scholarship”
“A student is eligible to receive a SC HOPE Scholarship if he meets the criteria for receiving and maintaining the Legislative Incentives for Future Excellence (LIFE) Scholarship except that a minimum Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or ACT score and requisite class rank are not required for eligibility for the SC HOPE Scholarship.”
South Carolina's 529 tax deduction
Everything you put into a Future Scholar 529 account comes off your South Carolina income, up to the federal limit for the account. Take money out for anything other than school costs and South Carolina adds it back to your income.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 59, Chapter 2
“Contributions to each investment trust account created under this chapter by a resident of this State or a nonresident required to file a State of South Carolina income tax return are deductible from South Carolina income subject to tax up to the limit of maximum contributions allowed to such accounts under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended”
“Withdrawals of the principal amount of contributions that are not qualified withdrawals must be recaptured into South Carolina income subject to tax to the extent the contributions were previously deducted from South Carolina taxable income.”
South Carolina also has tuition help at two-year colleges and programs for particular groups of students. See the Commission on Higher Education's list.
From the colleges
What each college gives for grades, what it promises on aid, and its full price.
| College | Merit scholarships | Promise on aid | Full price a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson University (South Carolina) private | None published | — | $51,609 |
| Benedict College private | None published | — | $29,309 |
| Bob Jones University private |
| — | $38,989 |
| Clemson University public | None published | — | $33,295 |
| Coastal Carolina University public | None published | — | $26,494 |
| College of Charleston public | None published | — | $30,957 |
| Converse University private | None published | — | $53,375 |
| Furman University private | None published | — | $85,828 |
| University of South Carolina public | None published | — | $34,120 |
| USC Upstate public | None published | — | $26,226 |
| Wofford College private | None published | — | $82,610 |
Each college's page has a promise's conditions, in the college's own words. “Worth asking about” marks a program the college describes in words that stop short of a promise.
Full price: tuition and fees, housing and food, and books; in state at a public university. What your family would pay after grants depends on your income: the finder shows it.
12 more South Carolina colleges have no page here. For 0 of them, the federal data has no cost or no price by income. The rest mainly teach graduate students or run online programs. Show them
- Charleston Southern University
- Citadel Military College of South Carolina
- Claflin University
- Columbia College
- Francis Marion University
- Lander University
- Newberry College
- North Greenville University
- South Carolina State University
- University of South Carolina Aiken
- University of South Carolina Beaufort
- Winthrop University
Across state lines
The Academic Common Market, run by the Southern Regional Education Board.
Coming to South Carolina from another southern state
Students from the other states in the market pay in-state tuition at a public college that takes part, but only for a degree their own state's public colleges don't offer.
These 8 colleges in South Carolina take part:
- Coastal Carolina University
- Lander University
- South Carolina State University
- University of South Carolina Aiken
- University of South Carolina Beaufort
- University of South Carolina
- University of South Carolina Upstate
- Winthrop University
Going from South Carolina to another southern state
A South Carolina student admitted to such a program in another of these states applies to South Carolina to be certified as a resident. The program search shows which programs are open to South Carolina students.
Source: Southern Regional Education Board, Academic Common Market
“is a tuition-savings program for college students in 15 SREB states who want to pursue degrees that are not offered by public institutions in their home state.”
“Students can enroll in out-of-state institutions and pay the institution’s in-state tuition rates for more than 2,200 undergraduate and graduate programs.”
“Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia Florida and Texas participate only at the graduate level.”
“Once admitted to the institution, contact your state ACM coordinator and complete the ACM application process in your home state to be certified as a state resident.”
Paying the rest
Your SmartTuition plan uses your savings, your 529, your loans and your award letter.
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How we worked these out
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The $6,900 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving over our South Carolina scenarios. Each scenario is a household in South Carolina at one of its colleges. Its income is one of 8 from $45,000 to $200,000, and its savings are none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price each college at the aid it reports for the income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. A saving is the difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest, the federal tax credit and South Carolina's tax deduction for money you put through its 529 plan. Credit matters: parents with fair credit borrow at a higher rate, which changes the saving.
A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out, as is one at a college that reports no aid for the income. The figure is for a household that lives in South Carolina.
Costs: each college's own published price where it has one, otherwise the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, carried forward to fall 2027. Grants: each program’s own page. Scholarships: each college's own page, read by us and checked against it. SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any institution named here.