College of Charleston
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 6.5-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 82 Title IV programs, 36 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 46 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing36 · 43.9%
- No Data46 · 56.1%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Programmatic accreditations · 3
Action history · 12
- Feb 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jan 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Dec 2024Grant Substantive Change: OtherSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Dec 2023Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Dec 2023Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 2,607 students received $15.3M in Pell grants, alongside $57.5M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 1,953 borrowers who entered repayment, 31 (1.5%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at College of Charleston
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 13
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus21
- Non-campus4
- Public property7
Includes 9 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Data quality: 1 report was later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
College of Charleston vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions College of Charleston selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectCollege of Charleston | 66% | — | 11,926 | $18,960 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs |
| 43% | 86.4% | 4,112 | $11,386 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs | |
| 24% | 99.7% | 8,363 | $12,361 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs | |
| 38% | 82.1% | 7,107 | $7,892 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs | |
| 53% | 88.2% | 7,499 | $10,701 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs | |
| 33% | 73.0% | 6,768 | $11,898 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium Programs | |
| Peer group median | 41% | 86.4% | 7,303 | $11,642 |
Institutions like College of Charleston
Explore the federal data for institutions in College of Charleston's comparison group.
- Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium ProgramsSouth Carolina
Francis Marion University
Grad rate43%Admit rate86.4%Enrollment4,112Net price$11,386View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium ProgramsGeorgia
Middle Georgia State University
Grad rate24%Admit rate99.7%Enrollment8,363Net price$12,361View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium ProgramsNorth Carolina
Fayetteville State University
Grad rate38%Admit rate82.1%Enrollment7,107Net price$7,892View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium ProgramsTennessee
The University of Tennessee-Martin
Grad rate53%Admit rate88.2%Enrollment7,499Net price$10,701View data - Masters Colleges & Universities: Medium ProgramsGeorgia
Albany State University
Grad rate33%Admit rate73.0%Enrollment6,768Net price$11,898View data
College of Charleston Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
- Michelle SmithExecutive Director of Institutional Research
- Kate AndersonAssociate Director of Institutional Research
Common Data Set
College of Charleston's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Selectivity & Admissions
Admissions funnel
C132,326 applied → 23,597 admitted (73.0%) → 2,313 enrolled.
Selectivity
C1Accessible — 73.0% acceptance rate.
Admit rate by gender
C1Admit rate varies by gender.
SAT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% SAT 1160–1300 (median 1220).
ACT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% ACT 23–29 (median 27).
High-school class rank
C10Share of enrolled first-years by HS class-rank band.
Waitlist outcome
C22,819 offered a waitlist spot, 972 accepted it, 521 admitted (53.6% of those who stayed on).
What matters in admission
C7Relative importance of each admission factor.
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about College of Charleston
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about College of Charleston.
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About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
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