Coastal Carolina University placed on seven U.S. News & World Report rankings for 2021, including No. 6 in Best Value Schools (South). The Best Value category calculation takes into account the school’s academic quality and net cost of attendance. This is the fourth consecutive year CCU has been ranked in the top six on this list.

“The Coastal Carolina University administration, faculty, and staff continue to work very hard to help raise the overall profile of the University,” said CCU President David A. DeCenzo. “We approach every day with a student-first mentality. The various rankings by U.S. News & World Report provide evidence that we are offering our students a top-quality education at a reasonable cost.”

Of the 56 Southern universities in the Best Value category, the No. 6 ranking places CCU ahead of other state institutions such as The Citadel (11th), Anderson University (26th), Winthrop University (41st), and the College of Charleston (53rd). Coastal has earned high rankings in the Best Value category consistently for the past nine years.

Coastal Carolina was also ranked on the following lists (South):

• No. 45 in Regional Universities (tie).

• No. 14 in Most Innovative Schools (tie).

• No. 15 in Best Undergraduate Teaching (tie).

• No. 19 in Top Public Schools (tie).

• No. 27 in Best Colleges for Veterans.

• No. 70 in Top Performers on Social Mobility (tie).

“Placing so high in categories that speak to our mission to provide access to higher education sends a positive message to our students and their families,” said Dan Ennis, CCU’s provost and vice president of academic affairs.

CCU moved up five spots on the Most Innovative Schools list and is ranked for the third consecutive year for 2021. Inclusion in this category is based on nominations by college presidents, provosts, and admissions deans, who were asked to nominate up to 15 colleges in their ranking categories that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology, or facilities.

For the second straight year, the University has been named to the Best Undergraduate Teaching category, which is a result of U.S. News asking top college administrators to name the schools they think have faculty with an unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.

CCU continues its ranking for Regional Universities in the South. Regional universities are defined as institutions that provide a full range of undergraduate programs, some master’s programs, and few doctoral programs. Institutions are ranked in four geographic regions: North, South, Midwest, and West.

Coastal Carolina has a total enrollment of more than 10,000 students, and offers baccalaureate degrees in 93 major fields of study. Among CCU’s graduate-level programs are 26 master’s degrees, two educational specialist degrees, and two doctoral programs: the Ph.D. in marine science: coastal and marine systems science, and the Ph.D. in education.

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