State profile · SC · Clery Act

Safest Colleges in South Carolina

Federal Clery Act filings for all 85 tracked South Carolina campuses, ranked by 2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students. Among nonzero reporters, Greenville Technical College currently has the lowest rate.

85
Institutions tracked
1.82
Avg campus rate / 1k (85 of 85 scored)
1.94
Statewide rate / 1k
#26
Rank by avg campus rate
258,955
Students enrolled

Among nonzero Clery reporters, Greenville Technical College has the lowest rate in South Carolina

According to U.S. Department of Education Clery Act filings, across 85 tracked campuses in South Carolina, 46 reported zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents used in the rate; among campuses with any in those categories, Greenville Technical College has the lowest rate at 0.08 per 1,000 students. This comparison excludes other Clery tables and unreported harm, so review the details before drawing a safety conclusion.

Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey

campuses tracked
85
average campus, per 1,000 (85 of 85 scored)
1.82
lowest nonzero rate - Greenville Technical College
0.08
campuses at zero in score categories
46

Data updated August 2026

Clery Act plate

Sheet SC · South Carolina 1.82/1k campus avg · #26/59

RATE-LOW · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID

  • RATE-LOW 1.82/1k
  • RANK-MID #26/59
  • PHOTO-FINISH Illinois · ±0.06
  • ZERO-MIX 54% zero
  • WT-LARGE-HOT Δ −0.12
  • BOOK-FULL 85/85
  • CONC-MID top5 41%

Nearest campus-rate peer: Illinois (+0.06/1k)

South Carolina sheet RATE-LOW · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID · peer Illinois. Codes from this state’s OPE Campus Safety filing: unweighted campus rate, corpus rank (low = safer), photo-finish peer state, zero-report share, campus-vs-weighted gap, scored book, top-five enrollment concentration. Not a moving recommendation.

Clery plate RATE-LOW · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · ZERO-MIX · WT-LARGE-HOT · BOOK-FULL · CONC-MID. Nearest unweighted-rate peer is Illinois (+0.06/1k). Among nonzero reporters inside the state, Greenville Technical College leads at 0.08/1k. Instrument codes from this state's OPE Campus Safety sheet; compare similarly sized campuses before treating any single rate as decisive.

South Carolina's unweighted average campus rate sits better than 56% of scored U.S. states; inside the state, Greenville Technical College has the lowest nonzero rate at 0.08/1k, ahead of Trident Technical College (0.15/1k); Midlands Technical College (0.22/1k). The five largest campuses still hold 41% of enrolled students, so enrollment weight and campus-average rank can diverge.

Campus-rate neighbourhood around South Carolina

Lowest/highest poles plus states nearest South Carolina on unweighted average campus Clery rate. Full ladder: /rankings/.

per 1,000 students

What this shows Neighbourhood of scored states around South Carolina's 1.82/1k unweighted campus average, not a full 50-state board reprint.

Source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey (Clery Act) As of 2024

Safest colleges in South Carolina, ranked by reported rate

Ranked from the lowest 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate upward, counting only the 39 South Carolina campuses with at least one incident in those score categories. Positions are numbered within that group, because a rank counted through the zero-score campuses below would order them by nothing.

28
ArclabsPiedmont · 744 students
Enrollment
744
Incidents /1k
5.38
33
Wofford CollegeSpartanburg · 1,817 students
Enrollment
1,817
Incidents /1k
7.15
#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1Greenville Technical CollegeGreenville · 11,999 students11,9990.084% of the leader · rank #1
2Trident Technical CollegeCharleston · 13,552 students13,5520.154% of the leader · rank #2
3Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia · 9,226 students9,2260.224% of the leader · rank #3
4Central Carolina Technical CollegeSumter · 2,825 students2,8250.354% of the leader · rank #4
5University of South Carolina AikenAiken · 4,022 students4,0220.504% of the leader · rank #5
6University of South Carolina-SumterSumter · 1,845 students1,8450.544% of the leader · rank #6
7Coastal Carolina UniversityConway · 11,348 students11,3480.705% of the leader · rank #7
8Spartanburg Community CollegeSpartanburg · 6,653 students6,6530.906% of the leader · rank #8
9Lander UniversityGreenwood · 4,378 students4,3780.916% of the leader · rank #9
10Francis Marion UniversityFlorence · 4,112 students4,1120.977% of the leader · rank #10
11Bob Jones UniversityGreenville · 2,734 students2,7341.108% of the leader · rank #11
12Strayer University-South CarolinaGreenville · 2,110 students2,1101.4210% of the leader · rank #12
13Anderson UniversityAnderson · 4,710 students4,7101.4910% of the leader · rank #13
14Fortis College-ColumbiaColumbia · 582 students5821.7212% of the leader · rank #14
15University of South Carolina-UpstateSpartanburg · 4,916 students4,9162.0314% of the leader · rank #15
16Charleston Southern UniversityCharleston · 3,832 students3,8322.0915% of the leader · rank #16
17Columbia CollegeColumbia · 1,725 students1,7252.3216% of the leader · rank #17
18College of CharlestonCharleston · 11,926 students11,9262.4317% of the leader · rank #18
19University of South Carolina-ColumbiaColumbia · 38,532 students38,5322.5718% of the leader · rank #19
20Clemson UniversityClemson · 29,077 students29,0772.8220% of the leader · rank #20
21Citadel Military College of South CarolinaCharleston · 3,793 students3,7932.9020% of the leader · rank #21
22North Greenville UniversityTigerville · 2,304 students2,3043.0421% of the leader · rank #22
23University of South Carolina BeaufortBluffton · 2,208 students2,2083.1722% of the leader · rank #23
24Converse UniversitySpartanburg · 1,787 students1,7873.9227% of the leader · rank #24
25Southeastern College-CharlestonNorth Charleston · 226 students2264.4231% of the leader · rank #25
26Denmark Technical CollegeDenmark · 675 students6754.4431% of the leader · rank #26
27Coker UniversityHartsville · 1,325 students1,3254.5332% of the leader · rank #27
28ArclabsPiedmont · 744 students7445.3838% of the leader · rank #28
29Winthrop UniversityRock Hill · 4,894 students4,8945.5239% of the leader · rank #29
30Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology-FlorenceFlorence · 172 students1725.8141% of the leader · rank #30
31Presbyterian CollegeClinton · 1,095 students1,0956.3945% of the leader · rank #31
32Claflin UniversityOrangeburg · 1,852 students1,8526.4845% of the leader · rank #32
33Wofford CollegeSpartanburg · 1,817 students1,8177.1550% of the leader · rank #33
34Medical University of South CarolinaCharleston · 3,246 students3,2468.0156% of the leader · rank #34
35South Carolina State UniversityOrangeburg · 3,242 students3,2428.9563% of the leader · rank #35
36Furman UniversityGreenville · 2,554 students2,5549.7968% of the leader · rank #36
37Newberry CollegeNewberry · 1,536 students1,53611.7282% of the leader · rank #37
38Morris CollegeSumter · 383 students38313.0591% of the leader · rank #38
39Spartanburg Methodist CollegeSpartanburg · 1,119 students1,11914.30100% of the leader · rank #39

Unranked campuses (46): zero score or no normalized rate

46 filed zero 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents in the score categories; other Clery tables can still contain reports. Neither group supports a safety ordering, so these campuses are listed alphabetically without positions. Showing 15 alphabetically; the remaining 31 stay out of this HTML table so large states stay crawlable.

#CampusEnrollmentIncidents /1k
Academy for Careers and TechnologyMullins · 37 students370.00
Academy of Hair TechnologyGreenville · 58 students580.00
Aiken Technical CollegeGraniteville · 2,307 students2,3070.00
Allen UniversityColumbia · 610 students6100.00
American College of the Building ArtsCharleston · 155 students1550.00
Barber Tech AcademyOrangeburg · 59 students590.00
Barber Tech Academy-ColumbiaColumbia · 51 students510.00
Benedict CollegeColumbia · 1,691 students1,6910.00
Charleston Cosmetology InstituteCharleston · 100 students1000.00
Charleston School of LawCharleston · 692 students6920.00
Clinton CollegeRock Hill · 126 students1260.00
Columbia International UniversityColumbia · 2,914 students2,9140.00
Erskine CollegeDue West · 912 students9120.00
Florence-Darlington Technical CollegeFlorence · 3,522 students3,5220.00
Galen Health Institutes-Myrtle BeachMyrtle Beach · 743 students7430.00

Open any remaining campus from the school directory or the incident tool.

The largest universities in South Carolina by enrollment

Enrollment leaders: University of South Carolina-Columbia (38,532); Clemson University (29,077); Trident Technical College (13,552), then 82 more. The 15 biggest South Carolina institutions by total enrolled students, from the same federal IPEDS collection, each shown with its 2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA rate. The five largest alone account for 41% of the 258,955 students enrolled across all 85 tracked South Carolina institutions. Mid-pack by size sits near University of South Carolina-Union (1,402 students, 0.00/1k).

#InstitutionEnrollmentIncidents /1k
1University of South Carolina-ColumbiaColumbia · 38,532 students38,532100% of the leader · rank #12.57
2Clemson UniversityClemson · 29,077 students29,07775% of the leader · rank #22.82
3Trident Technical CollegeCharleston · 13,552 students13,55235% of the leader · rank #30.15
4Greenville Technical CollegeGreenville · 11,999 students11,99931% of the leader · rank #40.08
5College of CharlestonCharleston · 11,926 students11,92631% of the leader · rank #52.43
6Coastal Carolina UniversityConway · 11,348 students11,34829% of the leader · rank #60.70
7Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia · 9,226 students9,22624% of the leader · rank #70.22
8Horry-Georgetown Technical CollegeConway · 7,923 students7,92321% of the leader · rank #80.00
9Spartanburg Community CollegeSpartanburg · 6,653 students6,65317% of the leader · rank #90.90
10Tri-County Technical CollegePendleton · 5,890 students5,89015% of the leader · rank #100.00
11Piedmont Technical CollegeGreenwood · 5,143 students5,14313% of the leader · rank #110.00
12University of South Carolina-UpstateSpartanburg · 4,916 students4,91613% of the leader · rank #122.03
13Winthrop UniversityRock Hill · 4,894 students4,89413% of the leader · rank #135.52
14York Technical CollegeRock Hill · 4,771 students4,77112% of the leader · rank #140.00
15Anderson UniversityAnderson · 4,710 students4,71012% of the leader · rank #151.49

Enrollment is total reported students, not full-time equivalent, and a branch campus is reported separately from its parent institution. A larger campus is not a less safe one: the incident rate beside it is already per 1,000 students.

Nationwide states with similar campus scale or Clery rate

Two nationwide peer sets for South Carolina: closest on tracked campus count (85 here) and closest on unweighted average 2024 Clery rate (1.82/1k here). The rate-neighbourhood and keep-peer blocks above stay geo-adjacent; these columns are cross-state ABS comparisons with deduped link sets.

Similar campus count

Nearest other states by number of tracked postsecondary institutions (≥5 scored campuses in corpus).

Similar campus Clery rate

Nearest other states by unweighted average on-campus Clery rate. Campus-count peers above are excluded.

Read with this state

Keep-peer handoff: Illinois sits nearest on unweighted campus average (+0.06/1k). Inside South Carolina, open Greenville Technical College's campus sheet next.

Greenville Technical College profile → | All states → | South Carolina net price → | Incident tool → | Methodology →

South Carolina campus safety FAQ

What are the safest colleges in South Carolina?

Among South Carolina campuses that reported at least one 2024 Criminal Offense or VAWA incident in the Clery categories used here, Greenville Technical College has the lowest rate (0.08 per 1,000 students). Next among nonzero reporters: Trident Technical College (0.15/1k); Midlands Technical College (0.22/1k). 46 campuses reported zero in those score categories and are listed separately without a safety ordinal, because a zero report is not the same as a proven safer campus.

How does PlainCampus rank campus safety in South Carolina?

In South Carolina, campuses with any 2024 Criminal Offenses or VAWA incidents in the score categories are ordered by incidents per 1,000 students - Greenville Technical College currently leads that nonzero list at 0.08/1k. Zero-report and unscored campuses stay unranked and alphabetical. See /methodology for the full rate definition.

How many colleges in South Carolina are compared?

This page covers 85 tracked higher-education institutions in South Carolina, serving about 258,955 enrolled students combined across 38 cities. 39 carry a ranked nonzero rate; 46 are listed without a safety ordinal. By enrollment the largest are University of South Carolina-Columbia (38,532); Clemson University (29,077); Trident Technical College (13,552). Nearby state averages for context: Illinois (1.87/1k); Wisconsin (1.75/1k); Alabama (1.70/1k); New York (1.95/1k); U.S. Virgin Islands (1.67/1k); Georgia (1.66/1k).

Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal Clery Act source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.