So, you're thinking about attending a college or university in South Carolina?

A state found in the southeastern section of the United States, South Carolina was one of the original Thirteen Colonies as well as the first state to secede from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. South Carolina is bordered by North Carolina to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and to both the south and west by Georgia.

The terrain of South Carolina changes vastly as you move inland from the coast. In the regions near the Atlantic coast, the land is fairly flat and made up largely of sand, silt, and clay. While some of this land is swampy, areas that are drained well can make excellent farmland. A little further inland lie sand hills remaining from a time when the land was sunken or the Atlantic ocean was higher. In the upstate section of South Carolina, the landscape begins to become more hilly as it enters a region that contains the roots of an ancient, eroded mountain chain. The highest point in the state, at 3,560 feet above sea level, is located in this area and is a part of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

South Carolina's climate is hot and humid in the summers, with high temperatures averaging above 85°F and lows of around 70°F. In the winter, the coastal areas have relatively mild weather, with highs averaging about 60°F and lows of over 40°F, while regions further inland in the higher country, the average low can drop below freezing.

Precipitation is abundant throughout the state of South Carolina, though snowfall is fairly light. The coast only gets less than an inch of snow on average and no part of the state averages more than six inches annually.

The weather of South Carolina is prone to include tropical cyclones during hurricane season, though it is most vulnerable from late August through October. The state also averages around 50 days of thunderstorm activity per year and, while some tornadoes have struck South Carolina in the past, the state is somewhat less susceptible to them than states nearby that border the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. Census Bureau, in 2005, reported that South Carolina had an estimated population of 4,255,083. Of these, 6.6% were reported as being under the age of 5 years old, while 25.2% were under 18, and 12.1% were 65 years old or older.

Falling in with the religious attitudes of most southern states, most of South Carolina's residents are Protestant. 92% of the state's population say they are Christian. 84% are affiliated with one of the Protestant denominations. Roman Catholics only make up 7% of the overall population of South Carolina. Also in-line with many southern states, the percentage of people who say they are non-religious is extremely low, with only 7% of residents identifying themselves as falling under this category.

Currently, the state sales tax of South Carolina is set at 5%. This will increase by 1% soon, however, due to a vote to replace local property tax funding of education with this statewide sales tax adjustment. Counties also have the option of levying an additional 2% to the sales tax rate. The sales tax on groceries, though, has actually been reduced to 3%.

A number of colleges and universities are based within the state of South Carolina. These educational institutions include:

• South Carolina State University

• The College of Charleston

• The University of South Carolina

• The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina

To find more information about universities and colleges in this area, visit the Online College Degrees page on this website.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "South Carolina".

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