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Higher education in South Carolina


krazeeboi

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I would say that Charleston IS Greenville's in-state model, in terms of influencing the power structure of the state, and developing leisure tourism. In terms of those things, what better role model could there be, inside or outside of the state?

The connections between the two cities seems to have increased steadily the last few years.

One of the 'lessons learned' from the role model, clearly is Greenville's steadfast desire to not let national retailers overwhelm and eliminate local retailers in the DT corridor.

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I would say that Charleston IS Greenville's in-state model, in terms of influencing the power structure of the state, and developing leisure tourism. In terms of those things, what better role model could there be, inside or outside of the state?

I agree. In terms of cities, Charleston is one of the best models to use. While no city in South Carolina (or any other state) will truly duplicate it, there are tons of lessons to be learned there, and Greenville above most others has truly taken the central lesson to heart- put the pedestrian experience first.

The key difference between Charleston and every other city is that other cities typically have more of a "blank slate" to work from.

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is Gov. Haley's veto. $160,000 may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but her attitude towards our major universities an supporting education in this state is rather appalling. Our universities continue to success despite her and the legislature, but that is not a justifiable excuse to remove funding. IMO this action is yet another symptom of a much larger problem in South Carolina.

Veto 2 Part IA, Page 26, Section 6, Commission on Higher Education, III. Other Agencies and Entities, Special Items - EPSCOR: $161,314 Total/General Funds

The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) is a federally-supported program designed to stimulate research in universities. Last year, the General Assembly sustained my veto of a significant portion of the state's support for this program. Despite this veto, our colleges and universities have continued to innovate and attract sponsored research opportunities. The evidence shows that this program is unnecessary.

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I came across this report on the New York Times about MSA's with the highest amount of college degrees. Some call it cities with "brain-gain."

In South Carolina, Charleston leads the way:

30. Charleston

43. Columbia

68. Greenville (3-way tie with Jacksonville, FL and Sarasota, FL)

Here's the article: http://www.nytimes.c...ehind.html?_r=1

Here's the list: http://www.nytimes.c...etro-areas.html

It's interesting form several standpoints.

Greenville is in close proximity to Clemson and USC Upstate plus dozens of other smaller colleges in the Upstate area. I wonder if not having a 4-year institution (not counting the University Center) would change their position?

Columbia is easily explainable since there is Carolina and 4 other colleges in the city (5 if you include Midlands Tech) and there and plenty of businesses of all sides to keep graduates in town and attract people from other places.

Charleston is the most interesting. Between MUSC, the Citadel, and CofC, they are well represented from a higher education standpoint. My theory is that Charleston is such an attractive place to live with arguably the highest quality of life in South Carolina that the people who go to school there tend to stay, and people who went to school elsewhere tend to want to move there. (I know that's the case for me, if I could find a job).

What's interesting is that with all the brain gain in Charleston, will its economy evolve in to a more creative/ high tech/ knowlwedge-based economy over time, or will it continue to be a place where people go to live the salt life for a few years before moving on with their lives.

Ran across an article which basically attributes Charleston's large brain gain primarily to relocating retirees.

This makes sense. As fun as Charleston is, college grads still heavily gravitate towards Charlotte and Atlanta for the large number of job opportunities they provide. Charleston can't yet compete with that. I think the issue here is that SC is practically putting all of its eggs into the manufacturing basket and that's not a field that attracts college grads.

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Charleston has the advantage where they have many middle-sized schools in the area. Greenville really only has smaller colleges (Furman leading the way). Clemson kind of defers the area of larger schools.

Probably why Greenville is making advancements with getting the larger schools to move grad programs to the city. They will never have a huge undergrad pop, but they can have a good post-grad pop to make up for it.

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New college rankings are out and while many colleges may disagree with them, I think this statement from the article sums up pretty well that "perception is reality".

Quote:

"US News’ rankings are dismissed by some academics as arbitrary, but they have become one of the key guides that students and parents use in choosing a school"

http://www.thestate.com/2012/09/13/2439314/usc-ranking-slips-other-sc-schools.html

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What they need to do for SC colleges is factor in the anti-anything-in-Columbia sentiment among so many people (High school guidance counselors are people.) who fill out the surveys and have an opportunity to bash institutions for whatever ill-founded reasons. In their minds USC is in Columbia and Columbia is guvment. Also, since its inception, upstart Clemson has hated USC, and Charleston has hated Columbia since the Capital City's founding. Lots of SC guidance counselors live in the Upstate and Charleston. On top of the anti-guvment sentiment you've got anti-Midlands sentiment. The hatred is generational. A change in the survey's formula to factor in such provincialism is in order.

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In reading the article above. Its makes it seem like Palmetto Health-USC School of Medicine had the only simulation center in the state. When in actuallity they have had one in Greenville since March. Really making it the first in the state for a long time . I didn't write this for the ( who had what first factor). I did it for the straight informational aspect of it. Now don't get me wrong. I am glad we as a state are getting these centers. And yes I did say we. Because Beaufort, Charleston, Clemson, Columbia (2), and Spartanburg will be getting these centers. And I specifically underlined Columbia just to show that there wil be two. Read the article and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.musc.edu/...o3-23state.html

What they need to do for SC colleges is factor in the anti-anything-in-Columbia sentiment among so many people (High school guidance counselors are people.) who fill out the surveys and have an opportunity to bash institutions for whatever ill-founded reasons. In their minds USC is in Columbia and Columbia is guvment. Also, since its inception, upstart Clemson has hated USC, and Charleston has hated Columbia since the Capital City's founding. Lots of SC guidance counselors live in the Upstate and Charleston. On top of the anti-guvment sentiment you've got anti-Midlands sentiment. The hatred is generational. A change in the survey's formula to factor in such provincialism is in order.

Look the rant you made above just don't hold weight in my honest opinion. I like Columbia. Hell I like all part of our state. But to say that the two metros of Charleston and Greenville are conspiring to hold Columbia and the whole Midlands area down is a crock. It really sounds like the ravings of a crazy person. Twenty years ago the folk down in Charleston would have probably said the same about Columbia and Greenville. We saw that that wasn't true. And just ten years ago it was Greenville. Everything happens in cycles. I think what's happening is that Columbia has an identity crisis right now. I think alot of us would say the same thing. Is it strickly a government center (don't know about that being that everything is becoming so decentralized), a college town (Go Gamecocks), or is focused on tourism. Who really knows. But when the powers that be, in Columbia, figures it out then it will be what Columbia. Columbia. Hey! And as a disclosure. I am from Greenville.

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In reading the article above. Its makes it seem like Palmetto Health-USC School of Medicine had the only simulation center in the state. When in actuallity they have had one in Greenville since March. Really making it the first in the state for a long time . I didn't write this for the ( who had what first factor). I did it for the straight informational aspect of it. Now don't get me wrong. I am glad we as a state are getting these centers. And yes I did say we. Because Beaufort, Charleston, Clemson, Columbia (2), and Spartanburg will be getting these centers. And I specifically underlined Columbia just to show that there wil be two. Read the article and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.musc.edu/...o3-23state.html

What they need to do for SC colleges is factor in the anti-anything-in-Columbia sentiment among so many people (High school guidance counselors are people.) who fill out the surveys and have an opportunity to bash institutions for whatever ill-founded reasons. In their minds USC is in Columbia and Columbia is guvment. Also, since its inception, upstart Clemson has hated USC, and Charleston has hated Columbia since the Capital City's founding. Lots of SC guidance counselors live in the Upstate and Charleston. On top of the anti-guvment sentiment you've got anti-Midlands sentiment. The hatred is generational. A change in the survey's formula to factor in such provincialism is in order.

Look the rant you made above just don't hold weight in my honest opinion. I like Columbia. Hell I like all part of our state. But to say that the two metros of Charleston and Greenville are conspiring to hold Columbia and the whole Midlands area down is a crock. It really sounds like the ravings of a crazy person. Twenty years ago the folk down in Charleston would have probably said the same about Columbia and Greenville. We saw that that wasn't true. And just ten years ago it was Greenville. Everything happens in cycles. I think what's happening is that Columbia has an identity crisis right now. I think alot of us would say the same thing. Is it strickly a government center (don't know about that being that everything is becoming so decentralized), a college town (Go Gamecocks), or is focused on tourism. Who really knows. But when the powers that be, in Columbia, figures it out then it will be what Columbia. Columbia. Hey! And as a disclosure. I am from Greenville.

Nothing in the article about the USC School of Medicine says or makes it sound like it was the first one in the state. It only says it is one of 20 such centers in the world. I guess for once the journalist didn't feel compelled to mention what other SC city has or was the first to have something that Columbia has.

I didn't say there was a conspiracy against USC or Columbia. Guidance counselors fill out those surveys individually. I wasn't born yesterday, and as a native of SC I know there is no love lost in Columbia - the guvment place - among lots of state residents who don't live here. Your loving Columbia is wonderful, but I'll have to go with my years of anecdotal evidence indicating there is a mindset against Columbia in this state over your affection for it in my assessment of why USC might not fare so well in a survey that relies in part on the opinions of high school guidance counselors across our hyper-regional state.

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Yes, I do disapprove of USC. But then again I go to that much better school near Lake Hartwell. :D

Exactly. While you obviously aren't a high school guidance counselor, you don't have to be a Clemson student to harbor hatred against that school where the guvment is, the school that ain't ya daddy's university. We can't necessarily expect the state's high school guidance counselors to have caught up with the new way of thinking about that fine institution in the guvment place.

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  • 1 month later...

South Carolina should fund its colleges with a merit system that rewards schools for their graduation rates and job placements, Gov. Nikki Haley recently told a gathering of political, academic and business leaders.“Colleges will not get everything they want,” Haley he said at a higher education conference that she called to encourage the colleges to better prepare students for the work force. “They will get what they earn.” Haley wants the Legislature to get away from its standard funding formulas that have given the schools the same percentages of state money year after year.

But Anne Neal, president of Washington-based American Council of Trustees and Alumni, told the conference an analysis by her group found an “arms race” among South Carolina’s 13 public colleges. “It’s ‘How can we poach some students from there? How can we make certain that we offer everything here at our institution even though they offer it down the street?’ ” Neal said. “There is a real challenge of trying to figure out the roles and defined missions of institutions ... when resources are limited.”

State Rep. Chip Limehouse, the Charleston Republican who chairs the S.C. House higher education budget subcommittee, said he would favor creating a board of regents or strengthening the higher education commission to coordinate programs and end duplication. “That would be the best thing to happen to higher education in South Carolina since the invention of the computer,” he said

.

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While I generally disagree with Gov. Haley's thought processes (or lack thereof) as it relates to education, there is some merit to the argument that our public universities should not unnecessarily duplicate education. I feel like Clemson and USC generally do a good job of not duplicating efforts in that regard, but I can't say the same about the other public institutions like Coastal Carolina, FMU, College of Charleston, The Citadel, SC State, etc.

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The University of South Carolina has been named one of the nation's top universities for diversity and inclusivity by Insight Into Diversity magazine. USC was one of 47 colleges - and the only one in South Carolina - to earn the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award from the magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. USC and the other honorees will be featured in the December issue. -- The State Newspaper, 11/25/12

Yes, indeed, it's a great time to be a Gamecock.

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SmartState (the endowed chairs program) has resulted in more than $1.4 billion in non-state investment entering, or committed to enter, the South Carolina economy and has led to the creation of 8,078 new jobs, the South Carolina SmartState Review Board said in its annual report to the state General Assembly. Nearly 1,100 of these new jobs are from the state's growing automotive industry, with other SmartState job sectors that include the energy and biomedical industries. The average salary of jobs created by the SmartState Program is $77,000-more than twice the 2010 annual personal income per capita in the state, according to the SmartState board’s estimates.

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  • 3 months later...
City and university officials have begun preliminary discussions exploring the possibility of combining the Medical University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston.
 
“We’re at a very preliminary discussion at this point to figure out what’s the value added to these institutions,” said Dr. Ray Greenberg, president of MUSC, adding the deal must be a win-win to go forward. “This is finding advantages for both institutions and that takes a bit of time.”
 
Greenberg said officials have raised the idea during the 1980s and 1990s, but it didn’t get far.
 
“Charleston and what Charleston needs are very different today,” Greenberg said. “And in many ways, I think this comes down to a question of what’s the best thing for Charleston. There’s sort of a natural tendency to jump to let’s just merge the institutions. I could just caution people (it) is a much more complicated thing than one might imagine.”
 
George Benson, president of the College of Charleston, also said the talks are preliminary and part of a reaction to the growth of the Charleston economy, including Boeing’s entrance into the Lowcountry and the tech sector’s expansion.
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Forbes has released its list of best colleges in the United States. Unsurprisingly, none in South Carolina made the top 100. The one thing that I wasn't clear about is what they did for the USC System. It appears that they reviewed USC Columbia separately, but the other branch campuses aren't on the list at all.

 

119 - Wofford College

144 - Furman University

153 - Clemson University

190 - University of South Carolina - Columbia

244 - The Citadel

253 - Presbyterian College

429 - College of Charleston

433 - Erskine College

440 - Converse College

485 - North Greenville College

637 - Coastal Carolina University

647 - Claflin University

648 - SC State University

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2013/07/24/americas-top-colleges-2013/

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  • 3 years later...

Two South Carolina colleges made a list of the Top 20 culinary schools on the East Coast. I think this is particularly noteworthy because I always assumed that the culinary scene in South Carolina was damaged by Johnson & Wales moving from Charleston to Charlotte. It's also interesting to note that JWU in Charlotte did not make the list at all, but I have no idea if that's significant or not since JWU in Providence, RI (the original one) might represent the entire system of colleges that they have.

 

#15. Culinary Institute of the Carolinas at Greenville Technical College-Greenville, South Carolina

#16. Culinary Institute of Charleston, Trident Technical College-Charleston, South Carolina

 

http://www.bestchoiceschools.com/rankings/culinary-schools-east-coast-2016/

 

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  • 2 years later...

The search for a new president at Carolina continues to be interesting....and not in a good way.  The BOT, and now the governor, are making this look terrible.  Partly as a result of this, the state legislature is looking to reduce the size of Carolina’s board to 11 from 21.  For some reason it feels like a struggle where some on the board want to make the university more “accessible” and others wanting to push the school higher.

Carolina really is one of the country’s great universities.  It has record enrollment, applications close to 40k, record research funding, and record fund raising.  All of this leads SC in addition to leading SC in the number of “ranked” programs...for those who believe in college rankings.  The business school average SAT now exceeds 1,300 for incoming students while the school in total is approaching a 1,300 average while adding students.  

I hope this power struggle for the direction of the school doesn’t slow the momentum of Carolina, the state of SC needs great universities to move it to the next level.

 

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