UofSC’s budget request prioritizes students, South Carolinians
Posted on: January 27, 2021; Updated on: January 27, 2021
By Dana Woodward, ddhaesel@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-3691
The University of South Carolina’s state budget request focuses on building a new state-of-the-art medical school and research campus dedicated to improving healthcare across the state while also holding firm on a tuition freeze for in-state students.
UofSC President Bob Caslen outlined the plan during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday (Jan. 27). The state fiscal year 2021-22 request focuses on allocations that will benefit students by keeping attendance affordable and also meeting the university’s mission of service to the entire state. Details include:
- $10.15 million for tuition mitigation at all of UofSC’s eight system institutions, allowing more students to attend without incurring additional debt. UofSC has not raised tuition on the Columbia campus since 2019 when it increased by 0.6 percent;
- $35 million for new health sciences facilities, tentatively planned adjacent to Prisma Health in Columbia. The project will start with a building to replace the existing leased School of Medicine campus in southeast Columbia;
- and $928,000 for technology upgrades, safety initiatives and other campus improvements at UofSC system institutions.
“Our budget request allows the entire university system to focus on key state priorities, such as increasing access and affordability to higher education for the people of South Carolina, while holding down tuition costs for students systemwide,” Caslen said.
Caslen also thanked state lawmakers for supporting higher education by reversing a decade-long trend of declining funding with new allocations for the past two budget cycles. In October 2020, President Caslen announced a tuition freeze to further university’s goal to increase accessibility and affordability of higher education in South Carolina.
Our budget request allows the entire university system to focus on key state priorities, such as increasing access and affordability to higher education for the people of South Carolina, while holding down tuition costs for students systemwide.
UofSC President Bob Caslen
The development of a new medical school facility and health sciences campus tentatively adjacent to Prisma Health will aid the university in educating South Carolina’s health professionals. The ongoing health crisis of COVID-19 has exposed longstanding issues of health disparities and poor overall population health in the Palmetto State.
The new campus will help attract top health sciences students from across the nation. The UofSC School of Medicine will continue to partner with Prisma Health, establishing the region as a hub of biomedical technology development and preventive health research.
Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about