Best General Studies Associate Degrees in South Carolina, Ranked (2026)

General Studies Associate Degrees in South Carolina

General studies associate degrees in South Carolina come to one program, at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, a private nonprofit that awarded 8 of them in the latest year. It's campus-based, charges $27,870 a year in tuition and required fees to every student regardless of residency, and graduates 52% of its students. Because it awarded fewer than the 10 degrees a year the national ranking requires, it's ranked here within South Carolina rather than nationally, on the same formula, and it scores 40.5. Completion carries that score: the 52% graduation rate sits in the 88th percentile of the national pool, while $27,870 a year puts its cost in the 3rd.

What's unusual is where it sits. South Carolina's general studies programs otherwise run to four bachelor's degrees and two master's, so this is the only two-year route to the general studies name in the state, and it's at a private university rather than a public two-year college. That shapes everything below. The state's transfer guarantee and its two-year tuition aid were both written with public colleges first in mind, and a Southern Wesleyan student has to ask how each one applies rather than assume it does.

The Best General Studies Associate Degree in South Carolina

The general studies associate degrees in South Carolina are ranked below within the state. Each awarded fewer than the 10 degrees a year the national associate degree ranking requires, so none is on the national list, but each is scored on the same formula and against the same national programs, so a score here means what it means there. The number on each card is the program's place in South Carolina.

1. 1

   Southern Wesleyan University

   South Carolina

   40.5

   • Private nonprofit

   College graduation rate

   52%

   In-state tuition and fees

   $27,870 a year

   Degrees awarded, latest year

   8

   • College graduation rate percentile 88 / 100
   • In-state tuition and fees percentile 3 / 100
   • Degrees awarded, latest year percentile 1 / 100

   About the Program

   Based in Central, South Carolina, Southern Wesleyan University is a private nonprofit university with 980 students on its rolls. The program's last federal report shows 8 associate's degrees conferred, so it is larger than 1 in every 100 programs measured here. Its college-wide graduation rate is 52%, the 88th percentile, because the federal record tracks completion by institution. Tuition and fees are $27,870 a year for every student, residents and nonresidents alike. Admission is close to open, with 100% of applicants accepted. On the graduation rate of its college it does best, reaching the 88th percentile.

How Much Does a General Studies Associate Degree Cost in South Carolina?

A general studies associate degree in South Carolina costs $27,870 a year in tuition and required fees for 2023-24 at Southern Wesleyan University, the only program at this level, with no resident discount because the university is private. That's a two-year price above two of the state's four general studies bachelor's programs, Benedict College at $18,000 and North Greenville University at $24,650, so compare two years here against four there before assuming the associate is the cheaper start.

Lottery Tuition Assistance is the state aid for two-year study, and a state regulation says it assists students who wish to attend two-year public or independent colleges in South Carolina. It covers part-time students, but a student enrolled in less than six credit hours during one term may not receive it for that term and becomes eligible again on returning to part-time or full-time status. A 2024 state flyer adds that students are not eligible for more than one certificate, diploma or degree within any five-year period unless the second is progress in the same field. Southern Wesleyan is a four-year university awarding a two-year degree, so ask its aid office whether the program qualifies under the regulation.

Will a General Studies Associate Degree Transfer in South Carolina?

A general studies associate degree from Southern Wesleyan transfers in South Carolina under the receiving college's own rules rather than the state guarantee, because the guarantee runs between public colleges. The Commission on Higher Education's policy says students who earn an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science from a public two-year institution receive a minimum of sixty transfer credit hours at a public four-year college or university and are given junior status. Southern Wesleyan is private, so that promise doesn't attach to its degree.

Pieces of the public framework can still help. A Statewide Articulation Agreement of 86 courses applies to all public institutions, the Statewide Transfer Blocks established in 1996 are accepted in their totality toward bachelor's requirements at all four-year public institutions in relevant programs, and covered coursework transfers with a C, 2.0 on a 4.0 scale, or above. If Southern Wesleyan's general studies courses match courses on that list, a public university may read them as equivalents, but it decides, not the policy. The Commission names the South Carolina Course Articulation and Transfer System as the primary tool and source of information for transfer in the state, so run your transcript through it.

Before you enroll, ask Southern Wesleyan which four-year colleges have taken its general studies graduates as juniors, and ask those colleges for a written evaluation.

What Do Jobs With a General Studies Associate Degree Pay in South Carolina?

Jobs open to a general studies associate degree in South Carolina pay the state medians below, from the May 2025 federal wage survey, with the national median beside each for comparison. Each row links to the salary guide for that job.

How to Choose a General Studies Associate Degree Program in South Carolina

To choose a general studies associate degree program in South Carolina, you're deciding whether Southern Wesleyan's program fits, since it's the only one, and the honest comparison is against the state's bachelor's programs and against public two-year colleges in a different major. Southern Wesleyan graduates 52% of its students, a higher share than three of the four general studies bachelor's programs in the state and the factor that lifts its score to 40.5, and its 8 degrees a year mean small classes and a registrar who knows your file.

Against that, $27,870 is a private price for a two-year degree with no state transfer guarantee behind it, and the program is campus-based in Central. Ask three things: whether Lottery Tuition Assistance applies, which universities have admitted its graduates as juniors, and how many of its courses match the state's 86-course articulation list. If you'd rather start at a public two-year college, the state's 60-hour guarantee into a public university is the stronger path, though it leads to a bachelor's in another field, since no public university here awards a general studies bachelor's.

If you plan to finish a bachelor's in the state, the general studies bachelor's degrees in South Carolina have their own page.