University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina is located in the heart of Columbia, South Carolina — the No. 3 college town in the country and centers around the lush, oak-filled historic Horseshoe. Available to both local and International Students, the university is a globally recognized, high-impact research university and one of only 32 public universities in the United States to receive both the top-tier research designation and the community engagement designation from the Carnegie Foundation.

USC is one of only 32 public universities to earn the Carnegie Foundation’s top-tier designations in research activity and community engagement. According to national publications like Kiplinger’s Inc. and U.S. News and World Report, their programs, all open to international students, stack up against the best in the nation and around the world.

Founded in 1801, then-South Carolina College flourished pre-Civil War, overcame postwar struggles, was rechartered in 1906 as a university and transformed itself as a national institution in the 20th and 21st centuries. Nowadays, USC is a top university in the country, open to around 3,400 international students from more than 90 countries.