Quad
U. South Carolina-Columbia
U. Tennessee-Knoxville

Key differences on Outcomes

  1. 1

    U. South Carolina-Columbia graduates 5 pts more of its students than U. Tennessee-Knoxville (77% vs. 71%)

    Graduation rate
  2. 2

    U. South Carolina-Columbia grads earn $1.9K more ten years out than U. Tennessee-Knoxville's ($62,177 vs. $60,249)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs

Outcomes

Outcomes

Earnings and finishing

Median earnings, 10 yrs
U. South Carolina-Columbia$62.2K
U. Tennessee-Knoxville$60.2K
Graduation rate
U. South Carolina-Columbia77%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville71%
Retention rate
U. South Carolina-Columbia92%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville92%

Borrowing

Median debt
U. South Carolina-Columbia$21.5K
U. Tennessee-Knoxville$20.5K
Undergrads with a federal loan
U. South Carolina-Columbia41%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville29%
Median debt, Pell Grant recipients
U. South Carolina-Columbia$19.5K
U. Tennessee-Knoxville$18K

Eight-year outcomes

Credential within 4 years, all students
U. South Carolina-Columbia67%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville55%
Credential within 8 years, all students
U. South Carolina-Columbia76%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville72%
Enrolled at another college, 8 years on
U. South Carolina-Columbia16%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville17%

Graduation by group

Graduated in 6 years, Pell Grant recipients
U. South Carolina-Columbia69%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville65%
Graduated in 6 years, neither Pell nor subsidized loan
U. South Carolina-Columbia83%
U. Tennessee-Knoxville79%
Pell graduation gap
U. South Carolina-Columbia13 pts lower
U. Tennessee-Knoxville15 pts lower

Graduated in 6 years, by race and ethnicity

GroupU. South Carolina-ColumbiaU. Tennessee-Knoxville
White80%75%
Asian86%77%
Hispanic/Latino74%67%
Black72%62%
Two or more races75%72%
International60%74%

All outcome numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;University of South Carolina-Columbia Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why