Charleston is a top 10 U.S. metro in terms of percentage growth of college-educated residents (census 1990 to 2000 comparisons) according to 2007 CEOs for Cities report.

To learn more about educational attainment in the Charleston region, visit our population page or download our educational attainment statistics below.

Increase in Educational Attainment 1990-2000

Top 10 U.S. Metros	Change in BA/BS or Higher	Income Growth
San Francisco, CA	8.70%	21.50%
San Jose, CA	7.9	18.1
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, NC	7.2	13.1
Boston, MA	7.2	12.3
Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, NJ	7.2	9.4
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC	6.9	17.9
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI	6.4	15
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA	6.4	14.5
Charleston-North Charleston, SC	6.1	17.9
Baltimore, MD	6.1	9.3
National Median	3.7	12.5
Source: CEOs for Cities

Charleston area residents enjoy diverse options in K-12 education, including:

• Four public school districts
• A growing number of charter schools
• 65 private schools
• A number of public magnet schools, including Charleston County's Academic Magnet High School, rated among the nation's top ten schools by Newsweek
• South Carolina's Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities or the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics, ranked among the best academic secondary schools in the nation

For additional information on area public and private schools, visit the South Carolina Department of Education. To learn more about local public school initiatives, visit The Education Foundation.

Charleston Area Public School District Statistics

	Berkeley County	Charleston County	Dorchester County II	Dorchester County IV
Enrollment	27,695	43,247	19,336	2,057
Number of Annual Graduates	1,295	1,795	901	110
% of Grads Entering Post-Secondary Education	60.9%	70.0%	67.4%	32.5%
% of Grads Entering workforce/military/other	39.1%	30.0%	32.6%	67.5%
Source: S.C. Dept of Education, 9/07

International Education

• With an increasing population of non-English speaking students, area schools have developed programs to help foreign-born children assimilate quickly. Many also offer programs to help these children continue to learn their native language and culture.
• Pinewood Preparatory School offers a number of programs specifically designed for its growing European student population, ranging from kindergarten through grade 12.
• Special weekend schools offering classes in language and culture have been created by the local Chinese community, which currently numbers about 3,000 residents. Programs are also available to assist non-English speaking students in their efforts to learn the English language.

Beyond K-12, more than a dozen college and university campuses provide easy access to a full spectrum of higher education opportunities, from chemical engineering to the culinary arts. Colleges in the region are regularly ranked among the nation's best by Peterson's, U.S News & World Report and other respected guides.

Charleston Area Colleges & Universities

College/University	2007-2008 Enrollment
American College of the Building Arts	45
Art Institute of Charleston	300
Charleston School of Law	600
Charleston Southern University	3,286
The Citadel	3,300
College of Charleston	11,316
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University	425
Limestone College	202
Lowcountry Graduate Center	350
Medical University of South Carolina	2,537
Miller-Motte Technical College	700
Trident Technical College	12,076
Webster University	530

Additional Major Colleges & Universities within 200 miles of Charleston

Research Universities	Fall 2007 Enrollment
University of South Carolina, Columbia SC	27,272
Clemson University, Clemson SC	17,585
Other Public Colleges/Universities
Coastal Carolina University	7,872
Francis Marion University	3,864
Lander University	2,408
South Carolina State University	4,933
University of South Carolina, Aiken	3,267
University of South Carolina, Beaufort	1,461
University of South Carolina, Upstate	4,916
Winthrop University	6,382
Private Colleges/Universities
Anderson University	1,902
Bob Jones University	4,228
Claflin University	1,7638
Columbia College	1,510
Columbia International University	911
Converse College	1,881
Erskine College	892
Furman University	2,951
North Greenville University	1,993
Presbyterian College	1,180
South University	801
Wofford College	1,363

The above institutions offer graduate level degrees or higher in addition to undergraduate degrees.
Source: Compiled by the Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, from the S.C. Commission on Higher Education and the institutions themselves, 3/08.

Proximity to University Research

The Charleston region is within reasonable proximity to several top-tier research universities, including those in Atlanta and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (RTP). The state of South Carolina is also home to three universities with highly respected, growing research programs:

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
Charleston, S.C.
Research funding fiscal '06-'07: $193 million

Clemson University Clemson, S.C.
Research funding fiscal '05-'06: $136 million

University of South Carolina Columbia, S.C.
Research funding fiscal '06-'07: $185 million

South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence

The state's three public research institutions (Clemson, MUSC and USC) may use state funds to create Centers of Economic Excellence (CoEE) in research areas that will advance South Carolina's economy. The program supports CoEE endowed chairs, world-renowned scientists who lead the Centers of Economic Excellence. These centers currently range from regenerative medicine and proteomics to advanced materials and urban ecology.
For more information, please visit www.sccoee.org.