Big-ticket items in higher ed budget requests

State universities have completed their budget hearings with the House Ways and Means Higher Education Subcommittee, and some of their requests carried eye-popping price tags: 

• University of South Carolina – $150 million for a new neurological hospital and rehabilitation center, plus $30 million in recurring funds for operations and their capital renewal plan. 

• Clemson – $40 million for a NextGen Computing Complex; $20 million for a Center for Human Genetics; $35 million for a science lab building. 

• College of Charleston – $76.1 million for building renovations; $20 million for a new admissions recruitment center. 

• Medical University of South Carolina – $85 million to build a new College of Medicine. 

• The Citadel – $50 million to renovate their biological science facility. 

• South Carolina Technical College System – $470.1 million for “individual college initiatives.” 

Additionally, this is the sixth consecutive year that Governor Henry McMaster has asked the General Assembly to freeze tuition for in-state students. In his executive budget, Gov. McMaster proposes $29.9 million for tuition mitigation across all institutions.  

According to The State, state universities requested $99.6 million in tuition mitigation, more than three times the governor’s proposal. However, this figure does not include the S.C. Technical College System’s request for $56.1 million to the lottery tuition assistance program and $95 million in scholarship assistance. Individual state university tuition mitigation requests include: 

• University of South Carolina – $48.6 million 

• Clemson – $23.1 million 

• Winthrop University – $2.31 million 

• Lander University – $2.8 million 

Coastal Carolina University’s total budget request was comparably low at $11 million, consisting of just two line items: $3 million for tuition mitigation and $8 million to update an auditorium HVAC system.  

As the House finalizes the state budget, representatives should question whether each expenditure is essential to a university’s continued success and reflects the public’s best interests. 

The South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office found that each year, higher education accounts for the second largest appropriation in the state budget. Such a high volume of price-intensive requests can quickly deplete the state’s resources, leaving other state agencies without proper funding.  

The practice of zero-based budgeting, where reoccurring funding and new budget requests are transparent, needs to be practiced by all state entities, including higher education. As lawmakers finalize the state budget, they must determine whether each request is a responsible investment of taxpayer dollars or an unnecessary burden on South Carolinians. 

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Brendan Connors is a research intern for the South Carolina Policy Council