Benedict College

Another historically black institution, Benedict College was established in Columbia, South Carolina in 1870 by the Baptists on the land of what used to be a 110-acre plantation. Benedict College has been criticized for its lack in providing sufficient academic standards, especially because of its so-called Success Equals Effort (SE2) policy, which awards grades on the basis of effort and knowledge to all freshman and sophomore students.

Being in a larger city—the state’s capital, in fact—Benedict College also has a larger student body of over 2,000 pupils. And, on average, those 2,000+ students are paying $30,000 a year. Unfortunately, the graduation rates at Benedict College remain fairly low, with 30% managing to graduate. Consequently, Benedict College’s ROI is six figures in the red at -$105,600.