Best Area programs in South Carolina, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses pertaining to the culture and development of an area, an ethnic group, or any other group, such as Latin American studies, women's studies, or urban affairs.
9 schools in South Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 73 people a year. The job pays a median of $64,500 in South Carolina across about 130 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in South Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
9 programs in South Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in South Carolina (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own South Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Area Studies, Othermain feeder CIP 05.0199In South Carolina → | 25 | 34.2% | 1 | $34,211 | $21,627 |
| 2 | CIP 05.0207In South Carolina → | 15 | 20.5% | 4 | $31,459 | $23,000 |
| 3 | CIP 05.0201In South Carolina → | 7 | 9.6% | 3 | $31,459 | $23,000 |
| 4 | German Studiesmain feeder CIP 05.0125In South Carolina → | 6 | 8.2% | 1 | $34,211 | $21,627 |
| 5 | Japanese Studiesmain feeder CIP 05.0127In South Carolina → | 5 | 6.8% | 1 | $34,211 | $21,627 |
| 6 | CIP 38.0205In South Carolina → | 5 | 6.8% | 1 | $26,048 | $25,612 |
| 7 | Asian Studies/Civilizationmain feeder CIP 05.0103In South Carolina → | 4 | 5.5% | 1 | $34,211 | $21,627 |
| 8 | CIP 38.0206In South Carolina → | 4 | 5.5% | 1 | $26,048 | $25,612 |
| 9 | CIP 30.2301In South Carolina → | 2 | 2.7% | 2 | $25,750 | $18,622 |
Top 9 schools in South Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 9 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of South Carolina - Columbia Columbia, SC Public · 3 feeder programs | 32 | Area Studies, Other | $32,064 | 79% | — | 60% |
| 2 | College of Charleston Charleston, SC Public · 3 feeder programs | 17 | Women's Studies | — | 66% | — | 60% |
| 3 | Furman University Greenville, SC Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Japanese Studies | — | 79% | $24,932 | 43% |
| 4 | Columbia International University Columbia, SC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Islamic Studies | — | 47% | $21,361 | 94% |
| 5 | Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 2 feeder programs | 4 | African-American/Black Studies | — | 87% | — | 38% |
| 6 | Claflin University Orangeburg, SC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | African-American/Black Studies | — | 52% | $23,698 | 65% |
| 7 | Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Women's Studies | — | 48% | — | 75% |
| 8 | University of South Carolina - Upstate Spartanburg, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies | — | 43% | — | 67% |
| 9 | Wofford College Spartanburg, SC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies | — | 84% | $24,459 | 52% |
All 9 schools in South Carolina
Every school in South Carolina with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of South Carolina - Columbia | Columbia | Public | 32 | 3 |
| College of Charleston | Charleston | Public | 17 | 3 |
| Furman University | Greenville | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 2 |
| Columbia International University | Columbia | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Clemson University | Clemson | Public | 4 | 2 |
| Claflin University | Orangeburg | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| Coastal Carolina University | Conway | Public | 2 | 1 |
| University of South Carolina - Upstate | Spartanburg | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Wofford College | Spartanburg | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary earn in South Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $85,020. South Carolina pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Area
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in South Carolina
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary21 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 05.0101African Studies
- 05.0102American/United States Studies/Civilization
- 05.0103Asian Studies/Civilization
- 05.0104East Asian Studies
- 05.0105Russian, Central European, East European and Eurasian Studies
- 05.0106European Studies/Civilization
- 05.0107Latin American Studies
- 05.0108Near and Middle Eastern Studies
- 05.0109Pacific Area/Pacific Rim Studies
- 05.0110Russian Studies
- 05.0111Scandinavian Studies
- 05.0112South Asian Studies
- 05.0113Southeast Asian Studies
- 05.0114Western European Studies
- 05.0115Canadian Studies
- 05.0116Balkans Studies(no graduates reported)
- 05.0117Baltic Studies(no graduates reported)
- 05.0118Slavic Studies
- 05.0119Caribbean Studies(no graduates reported)
- 05.0120Ural-Altaic and Central Asian Studies
- 05.0121Commonwealth Studies(no graduates reported)
- 05.0122Regional Studies (U.S., Canadian, Foreign)
- 05.0123Chinese Studies
- 05.0124French Studies
- 05.0125German Studies
Common questions
Answers for people weighing area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary programs in South Carolina.
What degree do you need to become an Area?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Area Studies, Other, which awarded 25 degrees in South Carolina in 2024-25, 34.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Area?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Area Studies, Ethnic, Religion/Religious Studies, Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies. Together they graduate about 73 people a year in South Carolina.
How much do area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary earn in South Carolina?+
The median is $64,500 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 24.1% below the U.S. median of $85,020. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in South Carolina?+
9 institutions in South Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 9 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do area, ethnic, and cultural studies teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Women's Studies Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1062.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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