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College of Information and Communications

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Master of Library and Information Science

Student Achievement Data

Student achievement and post-graduation success is a top priority for the School of Information Science. We regularly review graduation and retention rates, as well as graduate placement rates, and use this data to improve the program. All data is supplied by the USC Office of Institutional Research, Assessment, and Analytics.

Graduation Rates

From Fall 2018 to Spring 2023 there have been 645 MLIS degrees awarded from the University of South Carolina. In that time, 47% of students earned their degree in less than two years. The average time to degree for MLIS students is 2.5 years. This data includes student leaves of absence.

Retention Rates by Semester

Fall

Year Not Retained Retained
2022 8.4% 91.6%
2021 6.48% 93.52%
2020 6.20% 93.80%
2019 6.63% 93.37%
2018 6.91% 93.09%
2017 8.93% 91.07%

Spring

Year Not Retained Retained
2023 8.38% 91.62%
2022 5.88% 94.12%
2021 7.62% 92.38%
2020 7.81% 92.19%
2019 6.60% 93.40%
2018 6.88% 93.12%

Summer

Year Not Retained Retained
2023 4.18% 95.82%
2022 6.61% 93.39%
2021 4.29% 95.71%
2020 4.98% 95.02%
2019 5.74% 94.26%
2018 7.29% 92.71%

 

Post-Graduation Job Placement

This data comes from our most recent placement survey for graduates from 2020-2021.

  1. Total number of students surveyed: 118
  2. Response Rate: 52 surveys returned; 44.07% of students responded
  3. Degrees: 94% of responses were from students who received a MLIS, 2% from students who received a certificate, 4% from students who received the Specialist degree.
  4. Graduation Term:
    1. 55% graduated in Fall 2020
    2.  33% graduated in Spring 2021
    3.  2% graduated in Summer 2021
    4. 10% graduated prior to Fall 2020
  5. Employed Full time: 92% employed full-time and 80% are employed within the LIS profession.
  6. 57% did not work in the LIS field prior to earning their degree.
  7. 51% received a raise and/or a promotion upon degree completion.
  8. 53% of students found a job within 6 months of graduation.
  9. 75% of respondents make at least $40,000.
  10.  A sample of job titles of graduates:
    1.  Collection Development Librarian
    2. School Library Media Specialist
    3. Government Librarian
    4. Academic Librarian
    5. Project Archivist
    6. Digital Resources Librarian
    7. Cataloging Assistant
    8.  Assistant Library Director
    9.  Park Guide
    10. Web Content Editor
    11. Research and Instruction Librarian for Special Collections

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