Higher education in South Carolina

[GvilleSC]

US News ranks Clemson University 22nd among the nation's public universities. This is still the school's highest ranking to date, and second year at number 22. Of course, this keeps Clemson as the state's highest ranked public university.

[CorgiMatt]

I agree with Furman's president's opinion about these rankings, but I'll admit it's good to see USC's School of International Business maintain its # 1 ranking for the 13th year, and it's good to see a solid ranking of the undergraduate business school in general.

[CorgiMatt]

And USC's Aiken campus ranks #1 in the South for undergraduate studies.

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10962695

[CorgiMatt]

Any math majors around? Here's the problem. I have no clue what the answer is and would be interested in the answer, however it turns out. Clemson's incoming freshman class just broke a record in both number and average SAT scores: 3,375 students with an average score of 1,223. USC's incoming freshman class also just broke a record in number and SAT scores: 3,930 with an average score of 1,194. With USC having 555 more incoming freshmen than Clemson and an average SAT score 29 points lower than Clemson's, which freshman class had more students score 1,223 (Clemson's average) on the SAT?

[Spartan]

I think the difference in 29 points is relatively insignificant in that sense, and I'm not sure if that comparison adds much to this topic.

[CorgiMatt]

I'm trying to figure out which of the state's institutions of higher learning has the most brain power, assuming an SAT score is a meaningful measurement of brain power. Since knowledge isn't a sport, I didn't post it in the SC college sports forum. Nothing wrong with a little bit of academic or knowledge competition within the topic of higher education in SC.

[GvilleSC]

The University of South Carolina is looking to add a medical program in Greenville. The plan would create a full four year program for medical students at the Greenville Hospital System's main campus. USC is at capacity now, and usually turns down about 100 qualified applicants each year, according to the article. Greenville's program would start with about 40 students and grow to about 100... The first class could start in 2012.

Article

[Spartan]

That's great news. It not only continues USC's state-wide mission, but it should help to bolster GHS's goals. I think they already have some clinical rotations from USC.

[GvilleSC]

Clemson University's expansion and renovation of Lee Hall, home to the School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Planning, Construction, and Art, is scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2010. The original building, built in 1958, was added last year to the National Register of Historic Places.

The exciting part in this matter is that the expansion of the building will be a Net Zero Energy structure, meaning it will be entirely off the grid. This goes above and beyond any LEED classification.

[Spartan]

So they can exclude the new part from the historical registry? Interesting. I didn't realize they did that.

[GvilleSC]

So they can exclude the new part from the historical registry? Interesting. I didn't realize they did that.

The building was added on to once in the 70's as well, however, only the original square from '58 is on the registry.

[CorgiMatt]

USC's green initiatives are ranked among the best in the southeast for universities.

http://www.columbiabusinessreport.com/news...itiatives?rss=0

[CorgiMatt]

USC's world-renowned film repository just got a big boost from a massive donation by the Chinese.

http://www.thestate.com/local/story/996454.html

Edited October 23, 2009 by CorgiMatt

[CorgiMatt]

USC is movin' on up on Kiplinger's annual best values in higher education list.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20100105/NEWS/1050308/USC-Clemson-College-of-Charleston-colleges-make-Kiplinger-s-list

The Post and Courier picked up the article as well. Here's their take.

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jan/09/3-state-colleges-best-value-list/

Edited January 9, 2010 by CorgiMatt

[CorgiMatt]

London's Financial Times ranks USC's MBA program #1 in the world in the "international experience." Those kudos should certainly serve to strengthen the university's global appeal and reputation.

http://www.columbiabusinessreport.com/news/32664-usc-mba-no-1-globally-in-international-experience?rss=0

[krazeeboi]

London's Financial Times ranks USC's MBA program #1 in the world in the "international experience." Those kudos should certainly serve to strengthen the university's global appeal and reputation.

http://www.columbiabusinessreport.com/news/32664-usc-mba-no-1-globally-in-international-experience?rss=0

I'm just trying to figure out why that doesn't translate to more international business for Columbia.

[CorgiMatt]

The USC School of Medicine's pediatrics residency program ranks high nationally and 100% percent of its residents pass the American Board of Pediatrics certifying examination.

http://www.columbiabusinessreport.com/news/33373-palmetto-health-usc-pediatric-residency-program-gets-100-pass-rating

Edited March 18, 2010 by CorgiMatt

[krazeeboi]

SC's tuition is the highest in the South.

Just terrible. State legislators will scurry to approve millions of dollars in incentives for $15/hr manufacturing jobs (while the top-tier jobs at those companies go to non-residents because the locals often don't have the education or experience for them), while higher education in SC becomes more and more unaffordable. SC cannot continue down this path much longer.

[Spartan]

This will ultimately hurt South Carolina. As much as I hate to make the comparison, North Carolina always finds a way to fund the UNC system... though that, in turn, is something that South Carolina does not have. Perhaps if all colleges and universities in the state were joined by one university system like Georgia and North Carolina have, they will have more lobbying power with the state.

For those unfamiliar, both Georgia and North Carolina have one entity called the Board of Regents that oversees the University of Georgia and University of North Carolina systems respectively. Each of the colleges and universities still operates separately, but by having one set of leaders over everything they are able to make better steps forward within the bureaucracy including funding from the state. It wouldn't hurt South Carolina to consider something similar.

This is also the reason that "UNC" is officially called the "UNC at Chapel Hill." My presumption is that if this were to happen in South Carolina, the USC System schools would probably (though not necessarily) be separated from USC at Columbia.

[krazeeboi]

If there's one reason that SC leaders won't follow suit, it's because "we don't need to do it like anyone else; the way we're doing it is perfectly fine."

No matter how many BMW's or Boeing's SC gets, as long as the state continues to underinvest in higher education, it will always be five steps behind. As a matter of fact, those big projects often come at the expense of proper investment in higher education.

[Spartan]

That's the flaw in their thinking though. It's not fine. It's a shame our leaders are so shortsighted.

[krazeeboi]

The reason they won't do it is because it will be a hard decision to make in the short-term, but it will be for long term prosperity. If state leaders stop throwing millions in incentives towards these low-level manufacturing jobs and instead invest it in education, they will be seen as not doing enough for job creation, and thus their political careers would be at stake. Continuing to overinvest in slow-growing, lower-paying sectors like manufacturing and tourism and underinvest in fast-growing, high-paying sectors is not a smart strategy whatsoever.

[CorgiMatt]

On a good note, USC pulled in a record amount in private donations this year. At least someone has some sense.

http://www.thestate.com/2010/08/11/1412708/usc-has-record-haul-in-private.html

[Spartan]

The donations have relatively little to do with the football program. We also have a separate thread for discussions related to sports in the state of South Carolina, and I've moved those posts to that thread..

[Spartan]

The record level of donations is a great thing. The state only funds about 15% of the total budget of the University. Tuition and donations/gifts/contracts cover the bulk of it. Since the state has no interest in paying for our residents to be educated then it will rely more and more on private donations. I may consider upping my annual donation to Carolina next year.