The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina

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We are achieving excellence in the education of principled leaders. The Citadel is a landmark in Charleston and South Carolina that is noted for its educational reputation as well as its rich history. Founded in 1842, The Citadel has an undergraduate student body of about 2,300 students who make up the South Carolina Corps of Cadets. Another 1,000 students attend The Citadel Graduate College, a civilian evening and online program that offers graduate and professional degrees as well as undergraduate programs.

The Citadel is best known nationally for its Corps of Cadets, which draws students from about 45 states and a dozen countries. The men and women in the Corps live and study under a classical military system that makes leadership and character development an essential part of the educational experience.

Achieving excellence in the education and development of principled leaders. As a higher education institution, The Citadel’s mission is to educate and develop our students to become principled leaders in all walks of life by instilling the core values of The Citadel in a disciplined and intellectually challenging environment. A unique feature of this environment for the South Carolina Corps of Cadets is the sense of camaraderie produced through teamwork and service to others while following a military lifestyle.

The Citadel strives to produce graduates who have insight into issues, ideas, and values that are of importance to society. It is equally important that Citadel graduates are capable of both critical and creative thinking, have effective communication skills, can apply abstract concepts to concrete situations, and possess the methodological skills needed to gather and analyze information.

Throughout its history, The Citadel's primary purpose has been to educate undergraduates as members of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets and to prepare them for post-graduate positions of leadership through academic programs of recognized excellence supported by the best features of a military environment. The cadet lifestyle provides a structured environment that supports growth and development of each student’s intellect, discipline, physical fitness, and character values. The four pillars which define The Citadel experience for cadets consist of these four developmental dimensions.

A complementary purpose of The Citadel, realized through The Citadel Graduate College is to provide the citizens of the Lowcountry and the State of South Carolina opportunities for professional development by offering a broad range of educational programs of recognized excellence at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. These programs are designed to accommodate the needs of non-traditional students seeking traditional and demanding academic challenges.

The Citadel’s unique structure caters to many types of students including undergraduate cadets, graduate, evening undergraduate, veteran, and online students. Small classes, challenging faculty, and a wide array of educational support services provide guidance and tutoring for students to fulfill their highest academic potential.

In support of its mission to educate and prepare graduates to become principled leaders, The Citadel offers rigorous academic programs, divided into five academic schools: Business, Education, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Science and Mathematics.

Our students are tough, but the admissions process doesn’t need to be. The Citadel is the only specialized four-year public college in South Carolina and leads South Carolina colleges and universities in its four-year graduation rate. The Citadel is nationally recognized by U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review and holds national and regional accreditations. The Citadel gives consideration to all applicants who meet the requirements for admission. The Citadel seeks to enroll well-rounded, mature students whose motivation and educational achievements indicate that they are prepared to do college level work.

The Citadel Graduate College (CGC) strives to provide quality service and assistance to our students. We offer 26 graduate degree programs with 22 concentration options, 25 graduate certificate programs, and 10 evening undergraduate programs. Because our classes are offered in the evenings, we excel in providing a quality education that is tailored around our students’ professions, family and lifestyles. Classes typically meet once per week in a civilian atmosphere. Some programs also offer the option to complete coursework and requirements 100% online.

The Citadel's unique educational experience, combining rigorous academic preparation within a disciplined military environment, has continued to keep pace with the changing nature of our society. During the 20th Century, The Citadel established itself as one of the leading undergraduate liberal arts colleges in the Southeast. It has also expanded its academic programs to serve the needs of the South Carolina low country by establishing the undergraduate Evening College in 1966, and Graduate School programs in 1968. Citadel Cadets and graduates have continued to serve our nation bravely, in the tradition of the citizen-soldier, participating in every conflict our nation has faced since the Korean War, including Viet Nam, the Gulf War, Kosovo, and the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The ultimate test of any academic institution is the quality and character of its graduates. Through three different centuries, The Citadel's contribution of leaders to society has been greatly disproportionate to its size. Numerous alumni have served as flag officers in all branches of our uniformed military services. They have served as governors, United States Senators and Congressmen, distinguished jurists, ambassadors, presidents of universities and colleges, prominent theologians, engineers, doctors, lawyers, writers and business executives in many diverse fields of endeavor. The record of Citadel graduates has more than validated the hopes of Governor Richardson in 1842, that the institution he sought to establish would produce useful citizens. At the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, The Citadel continues to stand as a bulwark of Duty, Honor, God and Country, dedicated to producing principled leaders for service to the state of South Carolina, and our nation.

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