Based on faculty strength, opportunities for external funding, and alignment with South Carolina’s economic development needs, Clemson University emphasizes these areas: Advanced Materials, Automotive and Transportation Technology, Biotechnology and Biomedical Sciences, Family and Community Living, General Education, Information and Communications Technology, Leadership and Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Environment. In 2001, Clemson was named TIME magazine’s Public College of the Year. In 2009, U.S. News and World Report ranked Clemson 22nd among national public universities. The Carnegie Foundation classifies Clemson as a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive, a category comprising less than four percent of all U.S. universities. In recent years, Clemson has more than doubled external research support and generated 11 spinoff companies that created more than 100 jobs. Through such initiatives as the South Carolina Bioengineering Alliance and a partnership with the Greenville Hospital System, Clemson supports the state’s biomedical industries.

Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) is a not-for-profit, patient-centered, teaching and research institution. It is one of the largest health systems in the Southeast and the Upstate's only academic medical center. The 1,268-bed system is home to five campuses, 14 medical residency and fellowship programs, and South Carolina’s first patient simulation center. GHS provides patients with a sophisticated network of expertise and technologies through its tertiary medical center, research and education facilities, community hospitals, wellness centers, physician practices, and numerous specialty facilities in upstate South Carolina. GHS has approximately 600 active clinical trials that are investigating new therapies, medications, medical devices, vaccines, and new ways of using existing treatments. Areas of study include oncology, pediatric oncology, women’s health, cardiology, and vascular disease. GHS also participates in applied basic science to support the development of new medical devices and drug therapies in oncology, reproductive endocrinology, and vascular surgery.

The South's first medical school, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is among the country’s major academic health care centers. Its mission is to preserve and optimize human life through education, research, and health care. Each year, MUSC prepares approximately 2,400 students in its doctoral, master’s, and baccalaureate degree programs, including 500 interns, residents, and fellows receiving specialty training. MUSC's research enterprise is on the rise, ranking among the top ten for National Institutes of Health research growth as reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The university has active research collaborations with hospitals throughout South Carolina, including its partners in HSSC. MUSC is committed to meeting the needs of underserved populations. The Association of American Medical Colleges honored MUSC with its prestigious Outstanding Community Service Award.

Palmetto Health is South Carolina’s largest, most comprehensive not-for-profit health system, composed of three primary campuses—Palmetto Health Richland, Palmetto Health Baptist, Palmetto Health Baptist Easley —and a fourth expansion campus, Palmetto Health Parkridge, in Northwest Columbia. Palmetto Health Richland is a regional community teaching and tertiary medical center that treats patients from every county in the state. It is home to the state’s only freestanding children’s hospital, a freestanding heart hospital, a Gamma Knife Center, a robotic surgery center, a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and one of four Level I trauma centers in South Carolina. Palmetto Health Baptist is one of the state’s most respected acute care hospitals, offering behavioral care, obstetrics, oncology, orthopedics, surgery, and women’s services. Among the services currently offered at Palmetto Health Parkridge are ambulatory surgery, imaging and lab services, Convenience Care, and an extended-hours physicians’ office where appointments are not needed.

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System is an integrated health care delivery system that provides high-quality care to patients in the Upstate of South Carolina. Spartanburg Regional is nationally recognized for excellence in nursing and is among the fewer than three percent of hospitals nationwide that have achieved Magnet designation (nursing's top honor). The latest technology, combined with highly trained professionals results in outstanding patient care. In 1983, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) named Spartanburg as one of 50 sites for a Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP). Today, the program at the Gibbs Cancer Center is called the Upstate Carolina CCOP and remains one of eight original programs, continuing to give area patients all the benefits of a major research hospital. Gibbs is the only cancer center in South Carolina to have a direct affiliation with an NCI-designated facility, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

With more than 200 years of history and tradition, the University of South Carolina's research enterprise is on the rise; it is one of only 62 public universities to receive the Carnegie Foundation’s highest designation for research. The Wall Street Journal recently recognized South Carolina as one of eight flagship universities with rising academic quality. In 2005–06, the University garnered a record $173.3 million in federal, state, and private funding for research, outreach, and training programs.

Located in Anderson, AnMed Health is the state's largest independent, not-for-profit health system. With more than 40 health care delivery sites, AnMed Health provides an impressive array of resources, including physician specialists, advanced diagnostic technologies, and state-of-the-art treatments. AnMed Health includes three licensed hospitals: AnMed Health Medical Center, AnMed Health Rehabilitation Hospital, and AnMed Health Women's and Children's Hospital. In addition, AnMed Health operates a modern cancer center, a comprehensive home care division, a Level II trauma center, a cardiac and orthopedic center, three outpatient surgery centers, a family medicine residency program, two minor care centers, three retail pharmacies, and a network of physician practices throughout the Upstate and northeast Georgia.

McLeod Health is a regional referral tertiary care center serving patients and families living in the northeastern region of South Carolina. The 12-county area McLeod serves has a population nearing one million, including those who live in Horry County. The mission of McLeod Health is to improve the overall health and well-being of people living within South Carolina and eastern North Carolina by providing excellence in health care. McLeod Health is one of the largest employers in the region, with more than 4,900 employees and nearly 40 medical practices. The McLeod Health respected acute-care facilities, McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, as well as McLeod Medical Center Darlington and McLeod Medical Center Dillon, also give McLeod Health greater flexibility in providing care to those throughout the northeastern region of South Carolina.

Located in Greenwood, Self Regional Healthcare serves a population of approximately 300,000 in a seven-county region known as the Lakelands. Licensed for 414 beds, the not-for-profit medical center is a regional referral center and tertiary care facility offering quality medical care. Self Regional received the South Carolina Governor’s Quality Award in November 2010 and for four straight years has earned the Gallup Great Workplace Award as one of the top 25 places to work in the entire world. Self Regional is a teaching hospital, graduating 10 family medicine physicians each spring. The hospital’s highly skilled medical staff includes more than 185 physicians representing almost every major medical specialty.