University of
South Carolina Beaufort
Public College in Bluffton, SC. Six-year graduation rate 34%. Median 10-year earnings $48,088.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $48,088 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Completion is the weak point: 34% graduate within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $24,000, neither a bargain nor a burden.
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
- ! Graduation rate 34% — below national average
Admissions
73% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 2,895 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield sits at 26% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of South Carolina Beaufort →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 34% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 61% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 44% of students transfer out, which reframes what the graduation rate above is measuring. Retention drops to 20% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,958 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $15,363 annually once grants are applied. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $11,397 at the $0–30k band to $20,250 at $110k+. Grant aid reaches 76% of students at an average of $8,793. Federal borrowing reaches 51% 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 · 493 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 | $11,397 |
| $30–48k | $10,614 |
| $48–75k | $13,846 |
| $75–110k | $19,001 |
| $110k+ | $20,250 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,005 of these 1,958 students, totalling $6,673,818 — an average of $6,641 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Beaufort 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)