Off-Campus Housing & Apartments near University of South Carolina (Carolina), Columbia Campus

Welcome to off-campus living at the University of South Carolina. If you’re headed back to Columbia for your sophomore, junior, or senior year and you want to live off campus, you’ll find plenty of options. ForRentUniversity.com® can help your search with off-campus living advice for students and parents, plus dozens of listings of the best apartments near the University of South Carolina. Since this may be your first year living off campus, you probably have questions: How’s student life in Columbia? What are the best neighborhoods for USC students? Read on for the details in our University of South Carolina-Columbia off-campus guide.

The University of South Carolina-Columbia is the state’s flagship university, dedicated to research. The USC system, however, has eight campuses, including Aiken, Beaufort, and Upstate. USC is home, of course, to the Fighting Gamecocks. The school’s teams play in the NCAA Division I Southeastern Conference. Columbia is a great city for college students, as you'll read below, but weekend getaways are always an option, too. Columbia is about 90 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina, for when you want a big-city fix; about 115 miles from Charleston, South Carolina, for when you want some coastal charm; and about 150 miles from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for when you want some sand and sun on the boardwalk.

What’s it like for a student living in Columbia?

Columbia is your classic college town. That’s because, first, USC isn’t just in Columbia; it’s the heart of downtown Columbia along with the South Carolina State House. The city and the university are inseparably intertwined. Second, Columbia has several other colleges or universities besides USC, including Allen University, Benedict College, Midlands Technical College, and Columbia International University. As a result, Columbia welcomes students with a variety of entertainment, nightlife, restaurants, and outdoor recreation. Hot spots for nightlife include Five Points (discussed below) and The Vista, a former warehouse district now filled with restaurants, bars, galleries, and shops. As you might expect, city residents and USC students can have occasional problems, mostly arising from students renting in the city’s historic neighborhoods. But in recent years, the number of incidents has dropped with the introduction of relationship-building strategies. The university’s Off-Campus Student Services office, for instance, offers “Good Neighboring Tips” for students in the community. The office also emphasizes that the Student Code of Conduct applies both on campus and off campus.

Staying Safe in Columbia, S.C.

Again, the office of Off-Campus Student Services is your friend. The office offers lots of resources and advice for staying safe in off-campus housing. Many tips would apply to anybody living anywhere: Keep doors locked, use your peephole, secure your bike. But the office also suggests checking the Community Crime Map for any area you might be considering, and download the Rave Guardian Safety App on your phone. Also, note that many apartment communities near USC Columbia have safety features such as controlled access and on-site parking. You can check those features when you’re browsing apartments.

Getting Around Columbia, S.C.

You have several options for getting to and from campus and around Columbia – besides driving, biking, or walking, of course. First, the university runs campus shuttles, though they don’t run too far off campus. Instead, the university encourages off-campus students to park in lots on the perimeter and ride the shuttle into the central campus. Second, Columbia’s COMET bus system runs spoke-like routes in and out of downtown. All the neighborhoods mentioned below have COMET routes through them.

Downtown Columbia and The Vista

The University of South Carolina sits next to Downtown Columbia, so it’s not surprising that a lot of students look for off-campus housing here. Downtown has a good selection of apartments and, of course, plenty of shops, restaurants, and entertainment options along Main Street. It’s also home to the Columbia Museum of Art and Finley Park for when you need a little culture or a sunny place to study. To the west toward the Congaree River, along Gervais Street, is The Vista with more apartments, bars, and restaurants. Catch great concerts here at Music Farm and Tin Roof.

Five Points

Five Points borders the University of South Carolina to the east at the intersection of Harden Street and Devine Street. This 100-year-old “village neighborhood,” full of fountains and public art, is one of the most popular places for USC students to live off campus. It’s within easy walking distance of campus, and it also has the largest selection of student-friendly bars, restaurants, and cafes. You’ll love living near places like Delaney’s Music Pub, Drip Coffee, and Pawley’s Front Porch, just to name a few. Pavlov’s on Greene Street is often named one of the best college bars in the country. A bonus if you live here: Come March, you’ll be right at home for Columbia’s St. Pat’s in Five Points street party.

Shandon

Shandon is bisected by Devine Street to the east of Five Points. With its mature trees, wide streets and historic homes, Shandon is a very desirable neighborhood. Along Devine Street, you'll find boutique shops, restaurants, and bakeries. The COMET bus system runs along Devine to connect Shandon with Five Points, downtown, and the USC campus. You can also bike to campus from here in 10-15 minutes.

Rosewood and Hollywood-Rose Hill

Rosewood, right below Shandon, is a popular neighborhood for USC students who want to live in the city but still be close to nature. Rosewood boasts gorgeous parks, historic homes, and tree-lined streets. More unusually, Rosewood has a community orchard, two community gardens, and South Carolina’s first urban farm, City Roots, where you can buy fresh veggies. Carnivores, meanwhile, will love Ole Timey Meats, which specializes in locally sourced beef, pork, and chicken. Even with these features, Rosewood is just a 10-15 minute bike ride to the University of South Carolina campus. Also, the COMET bus system connects Rosewood to Five Points and the USC campus along Rosewood Drive, which is the neighborhood’s northern border. Hollywood-Rose Hill is a smaller neighborhood across Rosewood Drive. Hollywood-Rose Hill is closer to campus – just an 8-minute bike ride to the Russell House University Union – and next to USC athletic facilities for softball, tennis, and track.

Olympia

Olympia is the ideal neighborhood if you want to be close to Williams-Brice Stadium for South Carolina’s football games. The stadium is just below the neighborhood. Olympia also is next to USC’s Greek Village. You’ll find apartments here along Whaley Street and Heyward Street, which are both served by COMET buses. Old textile mills here have been transformed into student-friendly apartments with easy access to campus by bus, bike or foot.