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More students are enrolled at the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus this fall than at any point in the university’s 225-year history, school officials announced Tuesday.
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The state’s flagship institution is now serving 41,650 undergraduate and graduate students in Columbia — about 2.5% more than last fall — after welcoming approximately 7,800 first-year students earlier this month, according to a university news release.
The latest bump in students has pushed USC’s systemwide enrollment — which includes students at its two-year and four-year institutions — to more than 60,000.
“Record-setting numbers indicate that students and their families recognize the value of a USC degree,” President Michael Amiridis said in a statement. “We are providing what our students need and want — accessible, affordable and high-quality education, focused degree-to-career pathways and the best student experience in the country.”
USC Columbia’s enrollment has grown nearly 18% in the past five years, bolstered by a flood of prospective student applications, according to the university’s online enrollment dashboard.
The 69,000 applications the school received this year represented a 64% increase from fall 2021, officials said.
While the majority of those applicants lived outside South Carolina, USC strives to admit a relatively even balance of in-state and out-of-state students.
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To achieve that balance, the university accepts in-state applicants at much higher rates.
Only about 10% of resident applicants are flat-out denied admission, compared to about half of those who apply from out of state, officials said. Non-resident students also pay about three times as much in tuition.
Roughly 53% of USC’s new freshman class hails from the Palmetto State — including at least one student from each of South Carolina’s 46 counties — and more than a quarter of in-state freshmen finished in the top 10% of their high school graduating class, university officials said.
“Drawing students from all 46 counties in South Carolina is a powerful reflection of USC’s role as the state’s flagship university and our commitment to serving students and families in every corner of the Palmetto State,” Scott Veryzl, USC’s vice president for enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions, said in a statement. “At the same time, more and more students from across the country and around the world are choosing USC because they recognize the exceptional academic opportunities, student experience and sense of belonging we offer.”
The roughly 3,700 out-of-state freshmen who enrolled at USC Columbia this fall came from 44 states and 41 countries, officials said.
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