Points of pride begin with specific rankings, facts or statistics about the university — but they don't end there. To develop benefit-driven messages, we need to remember that rankings and statistics are not "the thing": What matters is not a numeric ranking or the dollar amount of a grant, but what the ranking or grant says about the university — i.e., that we are innovative in our research efforts, that our work has impact in the community and that our programs are academically rigorous.
Using Points of Pride in Communications
Points of pride have an important role in messaging, and each relates back to one or more of our three brand pillars.
Pillar I: Academic and Research Excellence
Create innovative models of learning and research that uphold the highest standards
Pillar 2: Superior Student Experience
United by a welcoming and intellectually stimulating student experience
Pillar 3: Economic and Social Impact
Driving entrepreneurship and visionary leadership in a thriving capital city, surrounded
by opportunity
Points of Pride
| Pillar | Points of Pride | Updated Date | Keywords (hidden column) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pillar 1 | South Carolina develops world-class leaders, with the No. 1 ranked undergraduate and graduate international business programs in the nation. (U.S. News) | 9/2024 (undergrad fall, grad spring) | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | The Carnegie Foundation has recognized USC with its top classification — R1 university — for its very high level of research activity and number of doctoral degrees awarded. In addition, South Carolina is one of few public universities that has also earned the foundation's community engagement designation. | 4/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | The University of South Carolina is South Carolina's academic leader, with more U.S. News-ranked graduate programs than all other colleges and universities in the state combined. | 12/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 |
The University of South Carolina’s sport science programs rank in the Top 5 in the country. The ranking includes the Arnold School of Public Health's exercise science and athletic training programs and the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management’s sport and entertainment management program. (Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments.) |
1/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 |
The University of South Carolina is a leader in advancing innovation and invention, ranking among the Top 50 patent-producing universities in the United States (No. 41) and the Top 100 patent-producing universities in the world (No. 63). USC is the top patent-producing university in South Carolina and is No. 4 among SEC schools. (National Academy of Inventors) |
6/2024 | |
| Pillar 1 |
South Carolina is the state’s academic leader, with more than 60 nationally ranked academic programs — more than any other institution in the state. (U.S. News & World Report) |
12/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | A model for higher education excellence, the South Carolina Honors College holds the top rating among public honors college programs (Inside Honors). | 9/2021 (rating is no longer produced). Inside Honors 2020-2021: Ratings and Reviews of 40 Public University Honors Programs. | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | South Carolina is the state’s health science leader, with 20 nationally ranked health science graduate programs — more than any other university in the state. | 12/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 |
Nearly 75 percent of all Gamecock student-athletes (scholarship or walk-on) make the SEC Academic Honor Roll each year. Gamecock student-athletes have led in the SEC Academic Honor Roll seven out of the last nine years, averaging 415 honor roll mentions each year since 2015-16. Since 2015-16, South Carolina leads the SEC with 3,748 members of the SEC Academic Honor Roll. |
7/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 |
Student-athletes at USC ended the Spring 2024 semester with a departmental grade point average (GPA) of 3.37. It is the 35th consecutive semester with a departmental GPA above 3.0. |
7/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | The University of South Carolina has more nationally ranked STEM programs than any other institution in the state. | 12/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | Bringing cutting-edge health research and innovation to the state, South Carolina is home to three federally designated Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence. | 10/2022 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | USC's College of Nursing is ranked No. 1 nationally for its online master's in nursing program. | 1/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | South Carolina develops critical thinkers who become leaders in their chosen fields; students and recent alumni have earned over 1,400 national fellowships and scholarships valued at more than $46 million since 1994. Included are Marshall, Rhodes, Truman, NSF, Fulbright, Goldwater, Madison, Udall and Hollings Scholars, among others. | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 1 | The University of South Carolina is a leader in library and information science, with its library and information science programs ranked No. 16 nationally, its school library media program ranked No. 5 and services for children and youth ranked No. 5. (U.S. News & World Report). | 4/2025. This was ranked in 2024 and 2025. Before that, last ranked by U.S. News in 2021. Check "additional graduate rankings - peer assessment only" from US News embargo info. | |
| Pillar 1 | The University of South Carolina Columbia is designated by the U.S. government as
a National Center of Academic Excellence in both cyber defense and cyber research. USC Aiken is also designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in cyber
defense. |
5/2024 | |
| Pillar 2 | South Carolina's student experience is second to none. Led by its pioneering, globally recognized freshman seminar University 101, South Carolina ranks No. 1 among public institutions for first-year experience (U.S. News & World Report). | 9/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | South Carolina welcomes and supports veterans and military service members: The university is ranked No. 7 on the 2024 Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges list. | 11/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | Alumni of South Carolina join a lifelong family bound by loyalty: Gamecock Nation includes more than 360,000 alumni worldwide and more than 220,000 alumni in South Carolina. | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | The University of South Carolina has been named a Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting (ALL IN, 2024). The distinction honors campuses that institutionalize nonpartisan efforts to increase democratic engagement. | 11/2024 | |
| Pillar 2 | The University of South Carolina is ranked by Forbes as one of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina (2024). | 8/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | With a welcoming environment defined by its sense of community, South Carolina is one of Forbes' America's Best Large Employers (2024). | 2/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | South Carolina offers a world of pathways to a life of learning and leadership, with more than 350 degree programs. | 5/2024 (Trena Houp) | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | South Carolina's intellectually stimulating living and learning communities are ranked No. 10 in the nation and No. 4 among public universities (U.S. News). The university has 13 living and learning communities, including the Galen Fellows health science community and the Rhodos Fellows community for information, design and computing. | 9/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | South Carolina offers a stimulating and comprehensive environment for health science students, with 100 health science degree programs. | 8/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | The University of South Carolina is located in the heart of downtown Columbia, South Carolina, which is No. 5 on Southern Living's 2024 list of The South's Best Cities on the Rise. | 3/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | The university's Columbia campus offers a world of opportunity in a vibrant capital city. Columbia, South Carolina, is among the Best Cities for Jobs, according to WalletHub. | 1/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | The university is committed to undergraduate research, with its Magellan Scholar Program having awarded more than $6 million to 2,300 undergraduates. The students’ faculty-mentored research efforts improve their competitiveness in the job market and in applying to graduate school. | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 2 | A model for student success initiatives, USC Columbia's graduation rate is more than 20 percent higher than the national average. | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 |
Beginning in the Fall 2024 application cycle, all South Carolina students who are ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class will be guaranteed admission to the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus. |
8/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 |
The University of South Carolina is committed to accessibility and affordability: 2023-24 marks the fifth straight year that tuition has remained unchanged for in-state residents on the Columbia campus. Tuition has not increased on system campuses for six straight years. |
6/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 |
The University of South Carolina is the state's leading educator, with more than 55,000 students systemwide and awarding more than 12,000 degrees per year. |
12/2024 (reflects 2023-24 data) | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 |
The University of South Carolina is located in a thriving capital city. Columbia, S.C., is listed among the Top 5 Best Places to Start a Career by WalletHub. |
5/2023 | tag 1, tag 2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is an engine of opportunity for S.C. students; two-thirds of all students in the University of South Carolina system are in-state students. | 9/2021 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | The University of South Carolina's graduation rate ranks among the Top 10 percent for public universities. | 5/2024 (Jonathan Poon) | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | The University of South Carolina offers a high-quality education at a reasonable cost; U.S. News named the university a Best Value School (2024). | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | A leader in supporting equity in education, South Carolina's African American graduation rate is in the Top 10 percent of public universities. | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | The University of South Carolina system is committed to serving every qualified student; 40 percent of all students enrolled at an in-state public university at the bachelor’s degree or higher level attend one of USC’s locations. | 12/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina provides more opportunities for African-American and minority students than any other institution in South Carolina, leading in both enrollment and graduation. | 12/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is confronting discrimination and teaching important lessons of history through its Anne Frank Center, the only partner site of Amsterdam’s Anne Frank House in North America. | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is meeting the state’s health care needs, with more than 4,000 health science degrees awarded each year. | 11/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is helping to meet the state’s need for 10,000 new nurses by 2030, awarding nearly 900 nursing degrees systemwide per year. |
8/2023 https://www.registerednursing.org/articles/largest-nursing-shortages/ (underlying data is HRSA) |
tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is meeting the state’s health care needs, with more than 17,000 students enrolled in health-related programs. | 12/2023 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is an economic engine, with the University of South Carolina system and its alumni pumping $7.4 billion into the state’s economy every year. | 1/2025 (new econ impact report) | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is accelerating economic innovation, creating student opportunity and driving research leadership through its vital business partnerships with companies like IBM, Boeing, Apple, Verizon, Siemens, Nephron, Yaskawa Motoman and Samsung. | 1/2023 (ask Jeff at least once a year) | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | The University of South Carolina and its alumni drive the state’s economy by supporting 1 in every 10 jobs in the Midlands region and more than 61,000 jobs statewide. | 1/2025 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina enriches the quality of life in the state, driving economic and social innovation as the state’s most comprehensive research university. | 5/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | South Carolina is committed to equity in higher education: In 2024, nearly 28 percent of its first-year students were from underrepresented minority backgrounds. | 8/2024 | tag 1, tag2 |
| Pillar 3 | The Carolina Teacher Induction Program works with more than 200 schools statewide to support and retain new teachers. | 5/2024 | |
| Pillar 3 | The University of South Carolina creates vibrant communities statewide, with eight system institutions, 20 locations, almost 14,000 employees (19,000 counting student workers) and more than 220,000 alumni living in South Carolina. | 9/2021 (alumni number 2025) |