2025 Compare Cities Education:
Columbia, SC vs Ruston, LA

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Highlights
- Ruston spends 14.7% less per student than Columbia.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 11.0% higher in Ruston than in Columbia. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Ruston had 0.1% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Columbia
 Columbia, SCRuston, LAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$14,643$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$14,952  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,457$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio15.36  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock4584573
 Students per Counselor336  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock1.3%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.7.3%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock90.6%88.9%
 Some College Educ.18.8%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock5.7%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.44.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock11.5%9.3%
 Professional Degree4.5%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock2.6%1.5%
Reviews for Columbia    50 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

I love living in Columbia! I recently graduated from USC and plan to stay. I read the reviews posted here and it shows that like many cities, your experience will depend  More

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Loved living in Columbia, SC prior to my job transfer. It's the perfect size - plenty to do, but still a laid back place. People are extremely friendly, there are  More

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Columbia is such a unique and underrated place. It has a lot of character and history, and good nature trails. Everything feels accessible (by car) and you can get from  More

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Reviews for Ruston    2 Reviews

Over 4 years ago

Back stabbing little town you want get anywhere with out knowing people or have  More

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Very difficult to find a job here if you’re not hired by the university. When my husband got a job with the university, I didn’t think it would be so difficult for me  More

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