S.C. Senate Plan Could Raise Tuition at Public Colleges

JESSICA HOLDMAN/SC Daily Gazette

COLUMBIA — Born a triplet, Emily Beiers said financial aid was crucial to her and her family’s ability to cover the cost of college in South Carolina, as the three siblings simultaneously pursue degrees.

In fact, affordability is what drew the Lexington native to enroll at Lander University, where she is a junior majoring in marketing management. To help cover costs and make it through, she plays golf on an athletic scholarship and has a job on campus.

“Scholarships and state funding and the support from the legislators for students in South Carolina to receive scholarships is the reason that I’m able to go to college,” Beiers said while standing on the Statehouse steps Tuesday.

Beiers was one of about 100 college students in Columbia to thank lawmakers for supporting state scholarship programs and other affordability efforts.

Meanwhile, across the grounds inside a legislative office building, a Senate budget panel was passing a special budget rider that would allow the state’s public colleges to raise rates for the first time in six years.

South Carolina has held tuition flat for in-state students at its public universities since 2017 by giving the schools extra funding in the budget to cover ever-rising operating costs rather than passing them on to students. But now, a proposal in the Senate would allow state colleges to increase their tuition rates up to 2 percent next year, even if the schools take the added state money.

“This is a pretty substantial reduction (in state spending), and it looks like a good idea,” said Sen. Greg Hembree, R-North Myrtle Beach, who chairs the Senate Education Committee.

For students, it could spell an extra $200 to $300 for the next school year.

In order to qualify, schools must give an analysis showing why a tuition or fee increase is necessary and show their attempts at cost savings.

“We just don’t have the money this year we had last year,” Sen. Ronnie Cromer of Newberry County told The State newspaper.

“Last year, we were able to give all what colleges asked for and a little more,” added the Prosperity Republican, who oversees higher education spending in the Senate. “With the money just not being there, it’s hard to tell a university they can’t increase tuition when inflation is up so high.”

That could change Wednesday, when state economists are scheduled to provide an updated revenue estimate.

Colleges this year asked lawmakers for $128 million more in annual state funding to cover increasing costs. House budget writers provided $57.5 million instead. How much the Senate will propose remains to be seen.

But Gov. Henry McMaster, in his budget proposal, recommended just $50 million, calling into question the amount universities claimed to need and stating the schools should find ways to reduce their spending. The governor blasted the Senate proposal Tuesday.

“That’s a bad idea,” McMaster said. “We need to be cutting tuition. We need to find ways to be more economical … With inflation and everything else that’s going on, now is not the time to be raising tuition.”

McMaster praised the affordability of the state’s technical colleges while chiding universities saying, “It costs too much money to get a four-year degree.”

Attending Lander costs $11,700 a year, a rate that the school has held steady for nearly a decade, even before lawmakers started offering money in exchange for keeping tuition steady.

Adam Taylor, chief of staff to Lander University’s president, said the school intends to keep that tradition going in the fall. Though he admits it will be a “tough job,” particularly with inflation driving up prices of goods and services.

For Beiers, that long-held tuition freeze has alleviated any worry about what was going to happen the next year or whether she could still pay for school.

Dillon Hassing, a senior from Fort Mill studying cybersecurity, transferred to York Technical College and then Lander University after studying for a year at Clemson University. He said the expense was the driving factor behind his decision to switch schools.

“I’m paying for college myself, so I had to think a lot about cost,” he said.

Tuition at Clemson comes to about $15,000 annually, excluding room and board, according to figures from the state’s higher education agency.

Spokesman Joe Galbraith said, while Clemson did not ask Senators for the special adaption to the budget, the school is supportive. He said the measure gives the school flexibility to continue making investments as it seeks to double its research efforts.

The state’s largest university system and Clemson’s rival, on the other hand, expressed optimism that the current funding model would be enough. A degree from the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus costs $12,700.

“USC remains committed to affordability and quality, and the current system of state funding makes that possible for all universities,” spokesman Jeff Stensland said in a statement.

Among other schools reached by the SC Daily Gazette, Francis Marion University said its board already voted to hold tuition at the current rate for the next school year. And Winthrop University announced last month that it would reduce tuition by 8 percent for all undergraduates enrolled full time.

The South Carolina Daily Gazette is a nonprofit news site providing nonpartisan reporting and thoughtful commentary. We strive to shine a light on state government and how political decisions affect people across the Palmetto State.