S.C. State tuition to increase 8.4% - Charleston Schools and Universities

S.C. State tuition to increase 8.4%

Tuition at South Carolina State University will jump 8.4 percent next year, and increases from other state colleges and universities are starting to trickle in.

Despite learning Thursday that Gov. Mark Sanford must accept $700 million in federal stimulus money, which will be distributed mostly to public schools and higher education institutions over the next two years, college and university leaders have said tuition likely will increase next year.

Stimulus money isn't enough to compensate for recent state cuts to higher education, they said. And the schools can't count on stimulus money to cover long-term, recurring expenses, such as staff salaries, because they will receive it only for two years.

"This has been an extremely tough financial year," S.C. State President George Cooper said Thursday. The university had to increase tuition "to ensure the continued success of S.C. State."

The school also announced increased fees for campus housing, which will range from $2,500 to $3,000 per semester, and a 3.5 percent increase in the student meal plan.

The College of Charleston, The Citadel and the University of South Carolina will announce tuition rates for the 2009-10 school year next week. Clemson University officials said a date hasn't been set for the Board of Trustees to discuss tuition, but one will be set soon.

Officials at Trident Technical College said Friday that tuition will jump 3.6 percent next year. And tuition increases at the Medical University of South Carolina will range from 7 percent to 17 percent, depending on the college in which a student is enrolled.

MUSC President Ray Greenberg, in a letter to staff Friday, said some of the $12.7 million in stimulus money the university will receive next year will be used to offset tuition increases. University officials earlier predicted that without the federal money, tuition jumps would have been 2 percent higher.

Greenberg's letter also said that the stimulus money can't be used simply to fill in budget gaps left by state cuts.

"These are bridge funds to help us stabilize operations and transition to a new fiscal reality," the letter stated.

College of Charleston spokesman Mike Roberts said the college will use the $4.7 million it will receive in stimulus money in the 2009-10 school year for the following: renovations to the building at 5 College Way, improvements at Dixie Plantation, upgrades to the technology and computer system, and deferred maintenance on some of the older buildings on campus.

Citadel spokeswoman Charlene Gunnells said the school's Board of Visitors hasn't yet decided how the school will use the $2.2 million it will receive from the federal stimulus next year.

And officials at Trident haven't learned yet how much federal money the school will receive.

USC spokeswoman Margaret Lamb said the Columbia campus will receive about $24 million in stimulus money next year. The university hasn't decided specifically how it will use the money, she said, but it won't use it for recurring expenses.

The university could use the money for things such as starting new research programs, Lamb said. New labs cost a lot of money to launch, she said, and if the university could buy equipment, a new researcher could immediately get to work.

The university will consider using the money to hire new employees if the dean of a particular department can demonstrate how the employee's salary will be covered when the stimulus money runs out, she said.

Although stimulus money isn't earmarked to reduce tuition, USC President Harris Pastides has "pledged that any increase in tuition will be modest," Lamb said.