Published: January 27, 2021; Updated: January 27, 2021
By Dana Woodward, [email protected], 803-777-3691
The state budget request from the University of South Carolina focuses on the construction of a new state-of-the-art medical school and research campus, dedicated to improving health across the state, while keeping the freezing conditions firm. tuition of students residing in the state.
UofSC President Bob Caslen outlined the plan during a hearing by the House’s Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday (27 January). The 2021-22 state fiscal year application focuses on allocations that will benefit students, keeping attendance affordable and also fulfilling the university’s service mission across the state. Details include:
- US $ 10.15 million to reduce tuition at all eight institutions in the UofSC system, allowing more students to attend without incurring additional debt. UofSC has not increased tuition on the Columbia campus since 2019, when it increased by 0.6%;
- $ 35 million for new health science facilities, tentatively planned alongside Prisma Health in Columbia. The project will begin with a building to replace the existing rented School of Medicine campus in southeastern Columbia;
- and $ 928,000 for technology updates, security initiatives and other campus improvements at UofSC institutions.
“Our budget request allows the entire university system to focus on the state’s top priorities, such as increasing access and accessibility to higher education for the people of South Carolina, while maintaining tuition costs for students in the entire system, ”said Caslen.
Caslen also thanked state legislators for supporting higher education, reversing a decade-long trend of reduced funding with new allocations for the last two budget cycles. In October 2020, President Caslen announced a tuition freeze to promote the university’s goal of increasing the accessibility and accessibility of higher education in South Carolina.
Our budget request allows the entire university system to focus on the state’s top priorities, such as increasing access and accessibility to higher education for the people of South Carolina, while reducing tuition costs for students throughout the system.
UofSC President Bob Caslen
The development of a new facility for the medical school and health science campus provisionally adjacent to Prisma Health will help the university educate South Carolina health professionals. COVID-19’s ongoing health crisis exposed long standing problems disparities in health and health of the general precarious population in the state of Palmetto.
The new campus will help attract the best students of health sciences from across the country. The UofSC School of Medicine will continue to partner with Prisma Health, establishing the region as a center for the development of biomedical technology and preventive health research.
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Topics: University Leadership