Computer and Information Sciences at University of South Carolina-Upstate

USC Upstate's computer science program underperforms both state and national benchmarks by a significant margin. Graduates earn $50,000 in their first year—about $15,800 less than the South Carolina median for CS programs and $11,300 below the national average. This places the program in the bottom quartile both statewide (25th percentile) and nationally (22nd percentile). For comparison, students at USC Columbia earn nearly $19,000 more annually with similar in-state tuition costs.

The one bright spot is manageable debt: at $31,000, it's only slightly above typical CS program debt and results in a reasonable debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.62. Earnings also grow steadily to $56,000 by year four, suggesting graduates do find career traction. However, even at that level, they're still earning less than first-year graduates from most other South Carolina CS programs.

For families considering computer science in South Carolina, this program represents a substantial earnings discount compared to other in-state options. Unless there are compelling personal reasons to choose USC Upstate—location, smaller class sizes, or specific support systems—students with competitive admission credentials should strongly consider applying to USC Columbia or Clemson, where the earnings premium would likely pay for any modest increase in cost within the first few years of employment.