Cost of SC vs NC State Colleges and Universities (Greenville: chapel, get credit)

[AutumnSun]

Can anyone tell me if the higher cost of tuition at South Carolina state colleges and universities is balanced out by financial aid(grants, scholarships) for students deemed 'needy' by the FASFA or if there is a lower disbursement at NC schools or if it really is cheaper to attend in North Carolina?

I know if you go in state in Florida you can be fully funded for tuition by grants and scholarships, as determined by the FASFA. I would just like to determine if that is possible in either North or South Carolina. Thank you for any information you might be able to share.


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Cost of attendance, State College

Spartanburg Community Colleges
Per Hour Tuition: $181* for Spartanburg and Cherokee County
$207 for Union County, $225 for out-of-county residents.
https://sccsc.edu/tuition/

North Carolina Community Colleges
Per Hour Tuition: $76*
http://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/s...demic_year.pdf

*in-state rate

Cost of attendance, State Universities
UCF
Tuition per year
$6,368*
Cost and Aid

University of South Carolina
Tuition per year
$12,262
Cost, Tuition and Financial Aid | University of South Carolina

University of North Carolina, Asheville
Tuition per year(currently)
$7,144*
https://studentaccounts.unca.edu

*in-state rate, full time

[Hobo7396]

I think most people would say us South Carolinians are a bit slow on the uptake, so the higher rate in SC is just compensating the faculty for their added labor in teaching us.

Plus, unca and UCF don't pay their football coach 3 million a year.

[Downtown27]

I'm going to get grief for this probably, but USC is a state flagship university (they do offer additional scholarships for students with strong academic records, plus there are LIFE and Palmetto scholarships). Their honors college is pretty strong. I would not put UNC-Asheville at the same level. Don't know about UCF.

[ClemVegas]

UCF looks like a great deal.

Here is info on the LIFE scholarship in SC, a merit based scholarship. http://www.che.sc.gov/CHE_Docs/stude...IFE-3_2016.pdf

It looks like Clemson uses FAFSA information to determine the amount of need based scholarships.

[WhitewaterVol]

Are you focused on 2 year colleges or 4 year colleges?

In SC, there is a lottery funded tuition assistance for 2 year colleges that is available to in state students. That reduces the cost by about $95 per credit hour, making it similar to the cost in NC.
South Carolina Lottery Tuition Assistance (SCLTA) | Greenville Technical College

For four year schools, if you qualify for the LIFE or Palmetto scholarships, they bring the cost down significantly. Even then, though, they really just bring it down to around the standard in-state student costs in NC.

SC is behind its other southern states in funding of public colleges and universities.

If you are being cost conscious and want to get a 4 year degree, the best bang for your buck will be to go to a 2 year school like Greenville Tech that has a transfer agreement with a 4 year school like Clemson. Take as many courses as you can at the 2 year school (sometimes you can take more than 2 years worth of courses) and then transfer to the 4 year school to complete your degree. If you go that route, make sure any courses you take at the 2 year school are listed on the transfer agreement with the 4 year school so you are sure you will get credit.

[WhitewaterVol]

Originally Posted by Hobo7396

I think most people would say us South Carolinians are a bit slow on the uptake, so the higher rate in SC is just compensating the faculty for their added labor in teaching us.

Plus, unca and UCF don't pay their football coach 3 million a year.

UCF is paying Josh Heupel $1.7 million per year plus incentives. That's less than 3 million but is still a significant sum of money.

[vistatiger]

Originally Posted by WhitewaterVol

UCF is paying Josh Heupel $1.7 million per year plus incentives. That's less than 3 million but is still a significant sum of money.

Isn't 3 million a little low? Swinney @ Clemson is making between 6 and 7 million a year I thought. 3 million sounds more like coordinator money. LOL

[Sunbather]

this is a pretty cherry picked list of non-comparable universities. You have to also look at other factors besides just tuition. But still, more comparable universities would at least be more beneficial to the discussion:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:
Cost of Attendance
In-state: $25,407
Tuition and Fees (In-state): $9,005
Room and Board: $11,556
Books and Supplies: $1,442
Other Expenses: $3,404

North Carolina State University
Cost of Attendance
In-state: $23,700
Tuition and Fees (In-state): $9,058
Room and Board: $10,854
Books and Supplies: $1,082
Other Expenses: $2,706

UNCA is a great school - my sister went there and has worked for them as well. But I don't think it's quite comparable for cost concerns.

[mckee16]

It looks like you need to stay instate...Fla

[ClemVegas]

To do an accurate comparison, it would be good to know how much you pay annually in taxes in each state to support public universities.

All of these public colleges spend and waste a lot of money and they are getting that money one way or another.