About Coker College

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) has given Coker special commendations for the quality of interaction between faculty, students and staff and the attractiveness of the campus grounds and facilities.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Coker one of "America's Best Colleges" for 2008. The magazine has named Coker a "Best College" for 12 consecutive years.
The Princeton Review has selected Coker College a “Best Southeastern College” in its 2008 rankings based on academic excellence and student satisfaction. This is the third consecutive year the College has received this honor.
Coker College's Fall 2007 Day enrollment is at an all-time high of 643 students. Combined enrollment of the Day and Evening programs is 1193.
Of Coker freshmen this year, the average GPA is 3.2; the average SAT score is 1017.
Coker’s 2007-08 Day students are from 28 states and 10 foreign countries (Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Ecuador, England, Finland, Kenya, Lithuania, Costa Rica, Thailand); 59% are women and 41% are men; 21% are African-American (all minorities: 26%).
Coker has 56 full-time faculty, and 87% hold the highest degree in their field. In addition to these teachers, Coker utilizes more than 70 adjunct and part-time faculty.
Instituted in 1985, Coker’s unique, interactive "Round Table" teaching style is recognized as a model learning experience in Smart Parents Guide to College (© Peterson’s, 1997) for promoting the discussion of ideas while building leadership and communication skills.
Coker has one of the smallest average class sizes in the country with just 12 students. Many classes at Coker have 10 or fewer students.
In 2001, Coker established the May Study/Travel Interim that gives students the opportunity to learn abroad with Coker professors, most recently in Europe and Mexico.
Coker awards more than $4 million in financial aid in addition to state and federal loans and grants.
Barron’s consistently names Coker one of the nation's 300 Best Buys in College Education.
Coker’s alumni giving percentage - a gauge of alumni satisfaction - recently reached 52%, highest among all of South Carolina's colleges and universities and equal to the top 25 liberal arts colleges nationally. Coker’s alumni giving percentage is typically 24% to 34% - higher than most of the South’s Best Comprehensive Colleges.
Coker recently established the Center for Research in Leadership and Community Development, a clearinghouse of information and a laboratory for successful community improvement and leadership programs. Under the auspices of the Center, the Institute for Applied Leadership offers educational opportunities for students and the community at large by working with Stedman Graham & Associates and the Leadership Institute of Chicago. The Institute will also provide leadership training and seminars for businesses and industry.
The Coker College Cobras (12 men’s and women’s sports) have increasingly gained national recognition in the past 20 years. The Cobras are NCAA II and compete in the Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference (CVAC). Coker teams have won numerous conference and district championships, and have competed in regional and national tournaments. The Cobras are often nationally ranked, and Coker's student-athletes have been featured in USA Today, Sports Illustrated and ESPN, The Magazine, and frequently earn Player-of-the-Week, All-American, and similar honors and awards. Coker athletes have also gone on to play professionally in the United States and abroad.
In 1997, Coker opened the 40,000 square-foot, $6.5 million Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center, a state-of-the-art educational and cultural facility that houses the Department of Dance, Music and Theater and the communication program. In addition to college productions, the Center hosts a variety of professional cultural events for the community at large.
Jazz! Carolina, founded and co-hosted by Coker College, was named a 2001 Most Outstanding Festival by the SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
In 1996, Coker became the first college in South Carolina to be awarded the Governor's Community Leadership and Support Award in the Humanities.
Kalmia Gardens of Coker College, a 30-acre botanical preserve for educational use and public enjoyment, recently completed a very successful fund-raising campaign to establish a formal garden, enhance teaching facilities, renovate the historic Hart House and increase the plant collection. Kalmia adjoins the 700+ acre Segars-McKinnon Heritage Preserve.
Coker College successfully completed the $22.6 million Gateway to the New Century Campaign in summer 2005, raising more than $23 million to enrich the College’s programs and activities and greatly increase the quality of the living and learning environment on campus. A cornerstone of the campaign is the Charles W. and Joan S. Coker Library-Information Technology Center, which will open in 2007 and offer students unparalleled access to collections and the latest information technology. The Campaign has also enabled Coker to undertake campus-wide construction and landscaping improvements.