USC to offer free tuition and fees for top SC students. Here’s who qualifies
South Carolina’s flagship school will now offer a free ride to college to many of the state’s highest-performing students.
In August, the University of South Carolina announced it would guarantee admission for South Carolina high school students who graduate in the top 10% of their classes. Next fall, some of those same students will have their tuition and fees paid for.
“Across South Carolina, we know there are bright, hard-working students who deserve the opportunity to earn their college degree but who do not have the financial resources to make this happen,” President Michael Amiridis said in a news release. “We want them to know the doors are open for them at USC.”
Tuition at USC has remained the same for the last six years. In-state students currently pay $12,688 in tuition and an average of $1,572 in fees per year.
The new program will be in combination with students’ other financial aid. USC will pay for what federal, state and private scholarships and grants don’t cover. To qualify, students must graduate in the top 10% of their class, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and have an annual family income below $80,000. While enrolled at the university, they must also continue to meet academic eligibility requirements.
It is an effort to make the university more accessible, Amiridis said.
”Access without affordability, in many cases, is meaningless,” Amiridis told The State.
The initiative targets students who might not have realized they were competitive college applicants, many of which come from South Carolina’s most rural areas — counties like Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Fairfield, Jasper, Lee, Marlboro, McCormick and Union. The university received 30 or fewer applications from each of these areas last year.
Amiridis said these students might be going to community college, but some might not be attending college at all.
The rest of the USC system will offer free tuition to high school students in the top 20% of their graduating class.
“We want South Carolina students to stay in South Carolina,” said Scott Verzyl, vice president of enrollment and dean of admissions.
Because the university is unsure how many students will take advantage of this new affordability program, it’s unclear how much it will cost the university, but Amiridis told The State that it will be in the six-figure range, per class.
USC has doubled the number of students receiving state need-based aid in the last three years, according to a news release, and the average amount has increased by 50% to an average of $3,300. Approximately 4,100 USC students now receive this help to attend college.
“We have made access and affordability for South Carolina students a priority and will continue to look for innovative ways to make earning a degree attainable for more South Carolinians across the USC system,” Thad Westbrook, chair of the USC board, said in a news release.
