Students on campus at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. (File photo courtesy of Coastal Carolina)
COLUMBIA — An unmanned underwater research vehicle, an event center to train hospitality students and an institute centered around federal defense research are among items on South Carolina colleges’ budget wish list for the coming year.
In all, public universities and technical colleges are seeking $2.3 billion in additional state aid for the fiscal year starting in July, according to a review of budget requests.
Legislators won’t approve colleges’ full requests, but the plans are a preview of higher education priorities across the state.
Coastal Carolina students to build satellite in state’s 1st college space program
For Coastal Carolina University, those priorities include a buildout of South Carolina’s first university-run space program.
Since March 2023, Coastal Carolina professors and about 80 science and engineering students have worked to plan and build a satellite. Now it’s time to launch the shoebox-sized satellite into orbit, where it will circle the planet 15 times a day from roughly 1,200 miles up.
The Conway-based college is asking legislators to set aside $450,000. But the school also wants to take things a step further, with a $900,000 underwater research vehicle.
The unmanned vehicle and satellite will work in tandem collecting images and data from above and below the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina’s blackwater estuaries.
“Coastal systems are vital to the state’s economy and culture, supporting fisheries, ecotourism, and economic development,” the college’s request reads. “The data collected will enhance our ability to assess ecosystem resilience and provide early warnings for environmental stressors.”
Coastal Carolina scientists and students will track environmental changes driven by storms, flooding, drought, and other natural events. They’ll also monitor impacts to habitats and movements of key marine species, such as shrimp, crabs, oysters, red knots, red drum, sharks, turtles, dolphins, and whales, according to the college’s request.
While Coastal Carolina’s request appears out of the ordinary, it’s far from the most expensive.
The technical college system is collectively seeking $743 million for projects across its 16 college campuses, accounting for a third of the total newly requested. Most of it would pay for construction projects.
High-dollar projects include $80 million to move the medical campus of Florence-Darlington Technical College out of downtown Florence, giving the college room to grow its training programs in high-demand health care fields.
Midlands Technical College and Spartanburg Community College are asking for $60 million and $65 million respectively to demolish and rebuild a student center and an administrative building, according to documents provided by the state Department of Administration.
And Denmark Technical College, the state’s only historically Black tech school, is renewing a $35 million request for new lab and classroom space. The college, located 35 miles east of the Savannah River National Laboratory, wants to train more of the cybersecurity and energy professionals needed by the federal nuclear research lab in an effort to attract more students and grow the school’s enrollment.
Budget asks from the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina round out the top three largest requests.
Most of MUSC’s $418 million request is for construction of a top-tier cancer center in downtown Charleston, the first of its kind in South Carolina.
And about half of USC’s $307 million ask would go to further the flagship university’s own health care ambitions.
That includes one-time money to move the pharmacy school to the university’s new medical campus that’s under construction in downtown Columbia’s redeveloped BullStreet District.
The school also wants annually recurring dollars to operate the new, taxpayer-funded neurological hospital and a series of clinics across the state that specialize in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
USC to establish center for civics education, following national trend
Beyond money for the medical campus, USC is asking for annual operating dollars to run a newly-formed center focused on teaching civil debate and civics lessons. It wants more money to continue a four-way, multi-year research partnership between USC, Clemson University, South Carolina State University and the Savannah River National Laboratory. And it’s asking for funds to continue and expand its efforts around artificial intelligence.
Across the USC system, other major requests include a new nursing education center in Beaufort, complete with simulation labs, and the renovation of an event center in Spartanburg to train hospitality students in the Upstate.
As for Clemson, its request tallies $193 million in additional aid.
That includes $20 million for its National Security Institute, with the goal of growing the $30 million in annual research it does with the U.S. Department of Defense.
In its request, Clemson highlighted its military roots. The school, originally known as Clemson Agricultural College, opened in July 1893 as an all-male, all-white military college. It wasn’t until 1955 that the school began admitting non-military students and women.
Clemson also is renewing requests for projects the Legislature either didn’t fund or partially funded. That includes $60 million for next-generation computing center, $35 million for a new science laboratory and $20 million to expand a genetics research lab.
Colleges’ combined requests would gobble up nearly all of the new revenue available for 2026-27. They won’t get it all, but their requests signify the decisions the Legislature’s budget writers face in the coming year. Colleges represent just one segment of the public agencies seeking hundreds of millions more each.
For example, the state Department of Education is seeking an additional $511 million for K-12 schools. Its request includes $150 million to boost the entire teacher salary schedule by $2,000.
And on Monday, Gov. Henry McMaster asked legislators to put an additional $1.1 billion toward roadwork.
