South Carolina has 28 private and 14 public 4-year colleges that enroll 27,662 first-year students yearly. The average tuition of public colleges is $26,391 for in-state students and $40,729 for out-of-state and international students.

Private colleges in South Carolina charge around $28,304 per year in tuition regardless of residency.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, South Carolina provided $92.2 million in financial aid to 16,729 students who enrolled in 4-year colleges for the first time as undergraduates. In addition, the colleges themselves awarded $161.7 million in grants and scholarships to 17,377 students.

South Carolina receives 1% of the total pell grant the federal government allocates. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 8,809 4-year college first-year undergraduates were awarded a total amount of $43.8 million in pell grant ($5,131 per student on average), and 14,045 students received a total amount of $77 million in the form of student loans from the federal government ($5,048 per student on average).