Clemson University

Clemson, SC · Public · 23,300 undergrads (large, suburb) · website ↗

Test-optional
$70 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$13,607
$30,000 – $48,000	$14,109
$48,000 – $75,000	$18,851
$75,000 – $110,000	$24,833
Over $110,000	$27,922
All incomes (average)	$22,253

Sticker tuition and fees: $15,554 in-state, $40,866 out-of-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Clemson University's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$14,224
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$14,224
Books and supplies	$1,496
Other expenses, on campus	$5,556
Other expenses, off campus	$5,556

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (4,589 of them) in 2022–23; 84% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	74%	$10,599
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	14%	$5,383
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	53%	$7,127
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	33%	$5,351

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 38%
Average SAT: 1353
Median ACT: 30
Students with Pell grants: 15%
Graduation rate (6yr): 87%
Freshman retention: 94%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $71,513
Median debt at graduation: $21,500
International undergrads: 192 (0.8%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: $70
Students per faculty member: 16 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 88%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 620–700
SAT Math: 620–710
ACT composite: 28–32

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Considered if submitted
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Required
Recommendations	Considered if submitted
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Considered if submitted
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Considered if submitted
Legacy status	Considered if submitted

First-time applicants: 60,122
Admitted: 22,879
Enrolled: 4,494

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Business26%

Engineering16%

Social Sciences9%

Biology & Life Sciences8%

Health & Nursing6%

Agriculture5%

Psychology5%

Computer Science5%

Education4%

Visual & Performing Arts2%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (56)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business Administration, Management and Operations	498	$55,858	$70,059national $68,257	$18,750
Marketing	406	$58,136	$81,109national $69,303	$18,375
Finance and Financial Management Services	380	$67,685	$91,269national $83,343	$19,500
Biology, General	337	$34,345	$65,577national $57,214	$20,500
Psychology, General	328	$34,838	$55,126national $50,706	$18,000
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	255	$78,462	$74,491national $88,910	$19,000
Mechanical Engineering	227	$75,999	$91,028national $92,135	$19,500
Computer and Information Sciences, General	179	$78,133	$101,301national $92,374	$20,451
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	168	$43,022	$49,861national $47,382	$21,500
Accounting and Related Services	167	$60,630	$84,458national $76,194	$19,500
Industrial Engineering	161	$78,339	$92,491national $98,442	$21,500
Economics	154	$56,205	$79,468national $82,686	$18,215
Civil Engineering	149	$71,965	$84,873national $86,517	$23,250
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	134	$71,944	$93,705national $93,451	$20,770
Political Science and Government	115	$40,586	$64,822national $63,293	$19,212
Animal Sciences	112	$33,160	$47,853national $49,634	$17,050
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management	106	$40,075	$48,898national $50,468	$18,336
Criminology	106	$45,226	$50,133national $55,556	$19,500
Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other	98	$41,130	$72,010national $68,245	$19,000
Sociology	88	$42,696	$54,780national $52,657	$18,687
History	85	$38,339	$50,125national $50,680	$19,500
Food Science and Technology	83	$40,352	$63,501national $70,873	$19,000
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies	78	$50,374	$67,102national $48,471	$19,500
Architecture	75	$53,041	$63,892national $66,914	$24,550
Design and Applied Arts	75	$52,318	$66,150national $51,490	$20,500
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician	72	$73,346	—national $93,843	$20,500
Agricultural Business and Management	71	$47,181	$67,050national $66,647	$20,040
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	70	$77,897	$96,446national $100,647	$22,125
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	64	$43,525	$60,988national $65,466	$19,500
Microbiological Sciences and Immunology	59	$42,913	$81,526national $62,582	$23,250
Computer Engineering	53	$80,134	$102,762national $109,015	$25,000
English Language and Literature, General	53	$41,840	$50,582national $48,590	$15,000
Chemical Engineering	51	$82,110	$92,098national $98,158	$20,500
Engineering-Related Fields	50	$74,839	$94,449national $89,619	$19,500
Mathematics	48	$52,981	$82,450national $69,562	$20,250
Genetics	42	—	—national $66,076	$22,875
Special Education and Teaching	34	—	—national $50,499	$21,000
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	33	—	$71,968national $63,560	$13,000
Chemistry	32	—	$67,996national $65,120	$24,176
Agricultural Production Operations	31	$36,732	$51,582national $53,588	$21,500
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	31	$45,354	$40,266national $55,012	$19,500
Information Science/Studies	31	$82,608	$105,646national $85,294	$25,905
Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Other	28	$63,968	$69,274national $50,580	$20,250
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering	27	—	$81,714national $81,171	$25,846
Landscape Architecture	25	—	$65,469national $66,387	$23,250
Fine and Studio Arts	22	$36,998	$35,526national $41,367	$19,500
Agricultural Engineering	21	—	$88,338national $84,624	$22,875
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services	20	$28,230	$52,044national $49,984	—
Visual and Performing Arts, Other	20	—	$45,735national $47,629	$20,832
Plant Sciences	18	—	$52,844national $56,567	$16,500
Health Professions Education, Ethics, and Humanities	18	—	—national $87,441	$16,856
Forestry	16	$48,907	$63,764national $58,784	$26,425
Materials Engineering	16	$74,683	$85,883national $91,449	$22,849
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	15	—	$50,212national $51,389	—
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	2	—	$70,584national $55,000	—
Construction Management	0	$83,926	$98,726national $95,124	—

Master's degrees (26)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business Administration, Management and Operations	210	$94,258	$114,399national $103,485	$42,233
Education, General	109	$54,634	$57,075national $65,824	$21,200
Engineering, Other	97	—	$114,455national $129,974	—
Accounting and Related Services	83	$74,965	$102,502national $95,833	$20,500
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	81	$54,348	—national $63,707	$29,893
Biology, General	78	$61,163	$66,752national $69,830	$25,000
Industrial Engineering	72	$129,363	$136,058national $119,184	—
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	66	$46,812	$47,818national $59,916	$19,411
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	65	$48,884	$58,602national $60,111	$17,428
Architectural Sciences and Technology	56	$67,494	$73,050national $77,466	$40,932
Mechanical Engineering	55	$84,552	$102,636national $115,974	—
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	54	$52,748	$60,461national $62,033	$41,133
Biomedical/Medical Engineering	46	$80,140	$100,816national $106,375	$20,500
Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management	41	$49,255	—national $59,299	$25,114
Human Resources Management and Services	41	$87,484	$79,651national $83,558	$38,386
Public Administration	38	$72,530	$92,184national $81,408	$42,975
Civil Engineering	35	$76,290	$89,331national $98,323	—
Marketing	29	—	—national $79,106	$28,290
Historic Preservation and Conservation	20	—	$71,518national $64,496	—
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	18	$51,352	—national $58,524	—
Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management	17	$54,465	$64,371national $57,803	—
Educational Administration and Supervision	15	—	$57,716national $71,685	—
Real Estate	14	—	$119,115national $135,104	$41,917
City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning	8	—	$69,971national $79,665	—
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	1	$99,493	$109,470national $120,193	—
Architecture	0	—	$76,905national $74,139	—

Doctoral degrees (3)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research	26	—	—national $99,550	$40,750
Educational Administration and Supervision	4	$66,372	$75,417national $100,573	—
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	—	$50,075	$57,641national $83,794	$43,316

Graduate certificates (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Architecture	18	—	—	$32,890

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 165 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 201 Sikes Hall, Clemson, SC 29634
Phone: (864) 656-4636
Institutional accreditor: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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