Students at Clemson University on Aug. 21, 2024, the first day of class. (Provided by Clemson University)
COLUMBIA – South Carolina college enrollment remains relatively stable, according to preliminary data from the state’s higher education agency.
About 158,000 students enrolled in four-year universities in the state this fall, a similar number to 2023.
Those numbers reflect years of growth at the state’s two largest research universities – the University of South Carolina and Clemson University – the newly appointed Commission on Higher Education President Jeff Perez told his agency’s governing board Thursday.
Overall enrollment remained steady at other public four years but dropped off at private colleges.
“Thelma and Louise are nowhere near the cliff,” Perez said, combining references to the 1990s film about a road trip gone wrong and the so-called “enrollment cliff” predicted by national experts as birth rates continue to drop and younger generations find college a less attractive option.
Elsewhere in the country — primarily at small liberal arts colleges in the Midwest and Northeast — the effects already have been felt, with at least 20 closures since 2023.
Higher education officials in South Carolina are hopeful the Southeast will fare better as the state’s population continues to rise.
Growth and decline
SC college enrollment, fall 2024 compared to fall 2019
- Clemson: 29,115 students, up 12.8% in five years
- USC (Columbia campus): 38,212, up 8.1%
- Coastal Carolina: 11,265, up 7.4%
- College of Charleston: 11,761, up 11.5%
- Francis Marion: 4,112, down 3.0%
- Lander: 4,423, up 37.1%
- South Carolina State: 3,304 up 33.3%
- Winthrop: 4,538, down 22.6%
- Allen: 577, down 29.4%
- Anderson: 4,597, up 29.7%
- Benedict: 1,790, down 12.2%
- Bob Jones: 2,613, down 13.1%
- Claflin: 1,892, down 8.6%
- Coker: 1,121, up 0.7%
- Columbia College: 1,719, up 38.3%
- Converse: 1,439, down 5.8%
- Erskine: 969, up 23.6%
- Furman: 2,566, down 9.3%
- Southern Wesleyan: 972, down 32.0%
- Voorhees: 553, up 8.4%
- Wofford: 1,823, up 6.0%
Source: Preliminary data from Commission on Higher Education
A lot of that growth has been driven by retirees moving to the state.
The population of people 65 and older has increased 50% since the 2010 U.S. Census , while those ages 19 and younger has gone up only 3%.
But families are also making South Carolina home, as evidenced by a flurry of new school construction. Voters have approved funding for new schools across 19 districts since 2018, according to a report by the state School Boards Association .
Since 2019, colleges across the Palmetto State have weathered shifting demographics and a global pandemic differently.
Freshman enrollment at USC’s Columbia campus is roughly the same as last year and just over half of those new students are South Carolina residents . But the state’s largest university is riding a wave of record-breaking classes over the last few years, so it’s celebrating historic numbers, surpassing 38,000 total students at its main campus for the first time.
Enrollment at Clemson remained flat at around 29,000 students. The majority of the incoming freshmen are South Carolinians, while the out-of-state contingent is led by students from North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Georgia and Florida .
Demand from students wanting to attend those schools far exceeds capacity, according to Commission on Higher Education board members, some of whom also serve on university boards: Applications to USC topped 50,000, while Clemson saw more than 60,000 applicants.
Outside the major public schools, Coastal Carolina University has continuously grown. And South Carolina State University, a historically black university in Orangeburg, is also on the rise. But Winthrop University, in the Charlotte suburb of Rock Hill, continued its slump.
Meanwhile, Anderson University, the state’s largest private school; and Columbia College, a former women’s college, were among private schools on the rise. Those declining in enrollment include Allen University, a small historically Black university in Columbia, and Upstate Christian colleges Southern Wesleyan and Bob Jones universities.
A systemic review
The full impact of what is to come has yet to be felt.
National high school graduation rates are expected to peak in 2025, with an estimated 3.9 million graduates. But that number is expected to decline nearly 11% by 2037, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education .
To prepare, Gov. Henry McMaster asked the Legislature to put $3 million in state surplus toward an independent study of higher education in the state.
The study would have asked historically controversial questions, such as whether the state should consolidate or close some of its public colleges or if the state would be better served by a Board of Regents rather than each college having its own independent governing board.
The state House supported the study. But Senate budget writers ultimately pulled it from the state spending plan. The governor has said he will continue to push for it come January, when the Legislature is scheduled to return for its next regular session.
“Despite the high demand for skills, training, and knowledge, many colleges across the nation are seeing declining enrollments. To address these challenges, my executive budget proposed – and the General Assembly declined to fund – a systemic review of our state’s 33 public institutions of higher education,” McMaster wrote in a message accompanying his 21 line-item vetoes of the state budget .
“I am hopeful you will reconsider next year,” he continued. “The time has come to evaluate whether the courses, degrees, and certificates that are offered at our public colleges and universities are meeting our state’s future workforce needs.”
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McMaster has the support of several legislators, including Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, and Sen. Tom Davis.
“(The governor) showing leadership in this space is critical,” Davis said.
The Beaufort Republican was chief of staff to former Gov. Mark Sanford, who made his own unsuccessful push in the early 2000s to create a Board of Regents in the state.
“There’s only a scarce amount of public dollars to go around,” Davis told the SC Daily Gazette. “Colleges trying to be all things to all people are not an efficient use of that money.”
Davis said it would be better if schools had their specialties with professors focused on being the foremost experts in those fields. While the Commission on Higher Education is charged with reviewing all new degree program proposals to decide whether or not a school should be allowed to implement them, Davis said a Board of Regents would be more effective.
Still, he doesn’t think it’s likely there will be a public push to change the state’s approach to higher education and expects resistance from the state’s largest universities.
Cheerleader or overseer?
Sanford, in his efforts, argued the Commission on Higher Education was more cheerleader than overseer. Now, some in the Legislature are raising similar concerns.
Agency leadership found themselves in hot water last December after allowing state lottery proceeds intended for college scholarships to pile up unused for several years.
That snafu also renewed calls that the commission “rigorously review” new degree program applications.
Last month, a House oversight panel that’s been grilling commission leaders over the scholarship miscalculations added to their to-do list. The agency must start reporting all applications it receives for new degree programs, whether denied or approved, to the General Assembly. Members of House committees focused on education will each get a report.
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Former Sen. Wes Hayes, who now chairs the higher education commission board, said it has turned down schools’ program requests to prevent overlapping programs at nearby colleges.
He cited an example of the Citadel and College of Charleston both wanting to offer engineering degrees. The commission ruled against it. The schools, in turn, worked out a compromise — one would focus on civil engineering while the other did electrical.
“That’s how the system is supposed to work,” said Hayes, a Rock Hill Republican.
Hayes also acknowledged one power the commission doesn’t have — once it approves a new program, it can’t pull it back if it’s not meeting standards.
House Education Chairwoman Shannon Erickson thinks the governor’s study was a good idea.
The Beaufort Republican chairs one of the committees flagged for receiving the newly required reports. She thinks those reports could provide a bigger picture of what colleges are asking for and whether those requests match the General Assembly’s goals — getting students ready for the state’s most in-demand jobs and saving students both time and money when seeking a degree.
“We are supposed to be preparing our children for the next step in life,” Erickson said.
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