College of Charleston
Public College in Charleston, SC. Six-year graduation rate 66%. Median 10-year earnings $56,416.
Ten years after entry, the median College of Charleston student earns $56,416 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is a strength: 66% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $23,250 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
College of Charleston accepts 60% of applicants, which makes it accessible to most students who meet the baseline requirements. With 31,680 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. Yield is low at 12%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 18% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 590–670 | 402 (18%) |
| SAT Math | 550–640 | |
| ACT Composite | 25–30 | 249 (11%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at College of Charleston →Academics
66% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 82%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and completion are close, which places the gap between entering and finishing almost entirely in year one. A 25% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 40% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 10,366 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $21,004 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $12,133 at $0–30k versus $24,996 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 69% of students at an average of $10,621. Federal borrowing reaches 39% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 2,627 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $12,133 |
| $30–48k | $13,406 |
| $48–75k | $16,797 |
| $75–110k | $20,089 |
| $110k+ | $24,996 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,055 of these 10,366 students, totalling $25,680,946 — an average of $6,333 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Charleston County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)