SC House subcommittee approves measure that would shut down SC State University for a year (Columbia: student loans, new house)
Columbia areaColumbia - Lexington - Irmo
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I would reopen it as USC-Orangeburg and they would have a totally new program/staff which is probably what they needed....
If they cant close it down for whatever reason .... merging it into USC makes some sense at this point...its needed professional management and that would supply that piece...a 14 % graduation rate .. and nobody noticed ?.... its the soft bigotry of low expectations ... so wrong
The real problem for SC State is that it's in orangeburg. It's probably hard to get effective leaders to move to orangeburg. Just being honest. It's also probably harder to get kids to go to orangeburg.
For everyone that thinks USC should absorb SC state, why in the world would they want to? uSC wouldn't gain a thing.
Didnt SCSU gain some Transportation Research Institute "Cylburn Center" along with some other specialized research programs from the Feds? If anything it could give USC some additional real estate to work with since they are quickly running out of space in Downtown Columbia. USC and State are both State Schools so Im not sure that a "gain" would be in the cards if the State of SC simply said.. you are stated funded so make it so.....
The other issue mentioned is the impact to the Orangeburg economy. No State Legislator, City or County Councilman from that area will sit by and let this place totally moth ball. USC doesnt even have to take the whole campus.. Claflin and Orangeburg Tech would likely come in and take a few buildings and it becomes some form of magnet for higher education and training...
Honestly though.. I would be surprised in the SCSU Alumni let this happen and will likely put pressure on the General Assembly from both in and outside of South Carolina given the school's history.. The President seems to be using this as a rallying cry to get alums back active and enaged in the school's plight....
For everyone that thinks USC should absorb SC state, why in the world would they want to? uSC wouldn't gain a thing.
I agree. USC should not take any part of this. We will hit raising $1b within a few months (and most likely set a new goal of at least $1.5b, not sure a lot of USC alumni want that cash going to bring SC State back.
I hate to see this for the students but if the grad rate is 14%, then there is no purpose in keeping it open. A lot of SC colleges could absorb these students, especially the ones with very low minority percentages.
I'm going to head off one argument I've heard about their graduation rate because, in my opinion, the graduation numbers are even worse when you dig deeper.
Their four-year graduation rate is 14%, which is incredibly bad, but it's under 60% at all the state schools, with Clemson at 59.2% and USC at 54.2%. Plenty of students don't finish in four years, but a lot of those students do go on to finish within 6. As a result, a 6-year graduation rate is often looked at as a more accurate measure of student success. Clemson's is over 82% and USC's is almost 73%.
SCSU's? 35.7%. Better than the four year rate? Sure. Truly, truly horrible by every measure? Absolutely.
There's no way USC would absorb SC State, and why should it? It's no more the responsibility of USC to do so than it is that of Clemson, College of Charleston, or any other state school. Let SC State get their own house in order. Like I said before, I don't think this bill will pass the full legislature, but even if it doesn't, SC State is on notice.
Dig a big hole next door to it. Get some heavy equipment and bulldoze the entire thing into the hole.
I don't say this out of spite for the Univ. But rather from first hand experience. I managed a contract on campus for over 10 years. Visiting campus regularly. The condition of the facilities is absolutely horrific. Basic maintainance is ignored and instead, emergency fixes and "rigged" utilities are utilized. The Duct Tape salesman must be rich. There is a mold issue in just about every building. Any building over 40 years old has substandard (and hazardous) electrical infrastructure. It would take millions just to get the place in decent shape. Not to mention the debt it already has.
For historic reasons I think it would be a mistake to close SCSU. They DO need an effective fundraiser and financial manager, though, until they're back on terra firma. They need a topnotch manager now more than they need an academician at the helm.
The real problem for SC State is that it's in orangeburg. It's probably hard to get effective leaders to move to orangeburg. Just being honest. It's also probably harder to get kids to go to orangeburg.
That's not an issue at all; Orangeburg isn't the worst city in the world, there are plenty of colleges and universities doing well in towns and cities in worse shape than Orangeburg, and Claflin University is doing quite well for itself and has been for some time; it's actually an overlooked higher ed success story in SC.
As far as graduation rates go, HBCUs are at a disadvantage for historic structural reasons that have been exacerbated in a post-recession economy. The number one reasons kids drop out of school is money, and Black households took a huge wallop during the recession which affects their ability to send and keep their kids in school. Coupled with cutbacks to public colleges and universities and rising tuition costs, HBCUs like State suffer extremely disproportionately.
With that said, State has also suffered from mismanagement and bad leadership for years, particularly the Board of Trustees. I think the move proposed by the House is drastic and it won't go through, but the Board DEFINITELY needed to go a long time ago; too much mutual back-scratching going on.
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