For students who want to get their feet wet in coastal and marine studies, Coastal Carolina University offers the right programs at the right location.
Located in Conway, S.C., the university has an acclaimed coastal and marine studies program and as a sea grant university owns a portion of Waties Island, a barrier island on the Carolina coast which provides students with many research and learning opportunities.
The university has more than 50 bachelor’s degree programs, including recent additions such as biochemistry, economics, information systems, theatre arts, criminology, social justice, musical theatre, graphic design and health and aging. The university has seven master’s degree programs.
The most popular majors at the university are business administration and management, communication studies/speech communication, marketing, psychology and public health education.
The university consists of 69 buildings on 631 acres, including the Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland studies, which is located off the main campus at the university’s Atlantic Center.
The Burroughs and Chapin Center has been around since 1988 and provides marine and wetland study opportunities. Research by the center has proved invaluable to many resource and coastal management programs in the Carolinas and elsewhere.
The university recently partnered with the North Carolina Land Trust to monitor water quality on Lake Waccamaw and the North Carolina segment of the Waccamaw River. The center has also been active since 2009 in studying the viability of wind energy.
The university also has a golf course management program, one of just a handful accredited by the PGA of America.
Students at CCU have a pretty good opportunity for interaction with faculty. The university has an 18 to 1 student to faculty ratio, and about 36 percent of classes have fewer than 20 students. The faculty at Coastal Carolina University is well-seasoned, about four-fifths of the faculty has a doctorate in their field.
The university has a good freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction and institutional support for students. Studies show that most students who fail to complete college leave school in or directly after their freshman year. About 68 percent of freshmen return to CCU for their sophomore year.
Coastal Carolina University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits schools in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Texas. SACS also accredits schools in Latin and South America.
U.S. News and World Report gives the school special recognition for its business administration program.
Most Popular Fields of Study
The top 5 fields of study completed at Coastal Carolina University.
Coastal Carolina University has a selective admissions policy and screens students based on a variety of factors. Students applying to the college should submit high school transcripts and standardized test scores. The university also takes recommendations and documentation of participation in civic and other organizations into consideration. Students applying to the college should have a full high school college preparatory curriculum as outlined by the state of South Carolina under their belts, or have completed remediation at a community college.
The majority of students admitted to Coastal Carolina University had a high school GPA of 2.9 or higher. The average SAT score was 920 or higher, the average ACT was 24 or higher.
About 74 percent of applicants to the school were admitted.
Students applying to CCU should submit their applications before Dec. 1 for fall semester admission.
For transfer students, programs in the college do have a selective admissions process that takes into account things such as college GPA, prerequisite courses, etc. It is advisable to check with an advisor prior to applying.
As of May 2011, the university charges a $45 application fee.
Financial Aid
Students applying to Coastal Carolina University are eligible for federal grants and student loans. There are also a number of grants and scholarships offered by the state of South Carolina, the college and other organizations that students may be eligible for.
Scholarships
For example, the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship provides up to $6,700 for freshmen and $7,500 for upperclassmen for South Carolina residents who have a minimum high school GPA of 3.5, score a 1200 on the SAT or 27 on the ACT and rank in the top 6 percent of their high school graduating class. The Palmetto LIFE Scholarship provides $5,000 per year to freshmen who score a 1100 on the SAT or 24 on the ACT, have a 3.0 GPA and rank in the top 30 percent of their high school class.
The President’s scholarship provides $4,000 for in-state students and $7,500 for out-of-state students. To qualify, in-state students must have a high school GPA of 3.5, and have scored a 1250 or better on the SAT or a 27 on the ACT. Out-of-state students must have a 3.5 GPA and have scored a 1300 on the SAT or 29 on the ACT.
South Carolina’s state lottery generates revenues for millions of dollars in scholarship aid each year.
Other Financial Aid
In total, about 64 percent of students at Coastal Carolina University receive some sort of financial aid.
These are just some of the scholarships available at Coastal Carolina University. Academic performance is not the sole criteria for all scholarships, some take many other factors into consideration, including ethnicity, career path, etc.
Students are urged to apply for scholarship aid early, as many scholarships are first come, first served.
The college’s office of financial aid also stands ready to help students find other grants and scholarships they may be eligible for. The school’s website, has a helpful list of scholarships that students can use to see which awards they may be eligible for.
Student Financial Aid Details
How many students use Financial Aid, and how much do they use?
Coastal Carolina University 1496th for the average student loan amount.
Secrets to getting the best South Carolina scholarships and financial aid
A little more than half of the university’s students are female. Women are increasingly dominating the student bodies of many university’s, a reversal from past decades when most college students were male.
On campus, there’s also plenty for CCU students to do. The university has more than 70 clubs and organizations students can participate in, including academic and career groups, as well as special interest groups.
About 7 percent of CCU students participate in Greek life. There are 10 fraternities and eight sororities on campus at CCU.
The university recently began construction on a new student center. When complete, the $30 million, 128,000 sq. ft. facility will house a convocation center for basketball games and commencement and other activities and a student recreation center complete with swimming pool, indoor track and field, climbing wall and other fitness-related activities.
The university’s newspaper is the Chanticleer, and the university also publishes literary reviews. Students can also participate in a university television and radio station.
The university also runs a public 18-hole golf course, the Quail Creek Golf Club, which is on land adjacent to the university’s main campus.
Student Enrollment Demographics
How many students are enrolled at Coastal Carolina University?
Coastal Carolina University teams are nicknamed the Chanticleers, or Chants. Team colors are teal, bronze and black.
Coastal Carolina University is a NCAA Division I school and is a member of the Big South Conference. CCU has had a track record of athletic success in a variety of sports over the years. The university regularly competes with other Big South colleges and universities for the Sasser Cup, an award given to the school with the best record of athletic success for the year. CCU has won the cup nine times.
The university offers men’s baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, track and field, soccer and tennis; and women’s softball, basketball, cross country, volleyball, golf, track and field, soccer and tennis.
Men’s Sports
The men’s baseball team is the standout program of the university. The team has been the No. 1 regional seed four times in the past 10 years and has won more than 50 games in four seasons over the past decade. The team has also hosted numerous NCAA regional games. The men’s football team is relatively young, as the program was not initiated until 2003. In that short time it has won four Big South championships.
Women’s Sports
The women’s cross country team is very strong, having won 12 Big South conference championships. In 2011, the women’s golf team competed in the NCAA championship. The university is slated to start a women’s lacrosse team in 2012.
Coastal Carolina University
Traditions
Coastal Carolina University hosts Family Weekend each November and the event is a big campus tradition. The event helps keep the connection between home and school strong and is filled with exciting events for students and their families.
Local Community
With its proximity to the resort city of Myrtle Beach, Coastal Carolina University students will never lack for entertainment opportunities. Myrtle Beach is a major tourist destination, with more than 14 million visitors annually. The city offers beaches, shopping destinations, tourist attractions and entertainment venues. Home to the Carolina Opry, the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk, the Hard Rock Café park and other destinations, the area offers plenty of opportunities for Coastal Carolina University students living in Conway to enjoy the beach and entertainment opportunities.
Coastal Carolina University
Additional School Information
The university was a branch of the University of South Carolina until 1993, when it broke off to become an independent institution.
Bibliography
The College Board College Handbook, 2010 . 47th ed. New York: College Board, 2009. Print.
Feel free to add comments or additional information regarding Coastal Carolina University, or discuss this school in the University Discussion Forum
over 1 year agoDante
Hello, my name is cameron and i was hoping to be going to Coastal in two years. The reason why (of which i have seen no evidence of while surfing your website) is that i heard that Coastal had a handful of sister schools abroad and that studying abroad had the same cost as instate tuition. If this belief is wrong, please notify me so that i might look and plan for another school, that of which DOES have sister schools abroad.
Thank you
almost 4 years agocassie cassiewhite ((at)) sc dot net
hi this is the college that i would like to go to i would want to be a lawyer i have always wanted to be a lawyer. they make alot of money,and all my friends are going to your college. your college is really big. i am only in 7th grade, and i like to plan ahead . well i am riding you a letter and im giving you a heads up
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Hello, my name is cameron and i was hoping to be going to Coastal in two years. The reason why (of which i have seen no evidence of while surfing your website) is that i heard that Coastal had a handful of sister schools abroad and that studying abroad had the same cost as instate tuition. If this belief is wrong, please notify me so that i might look and plan for another school, that of which DOES have sister schools abroad. Thank you