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Higher‑education panel funds scholarships, maintenance and adopts tuition mitigation proviso for incoming freshmen
Summary
The Ways and Means higher‑education presenter said the budget fully funds lottery scholarships and several grant programs, invests $337 million in maintenance and campus projects and adopts an amended tuition‑mitigation proviso that freezes tuition for continuing undergraduates while allowing a locked‑in rate for incoming freshmen.
Representative Taylor, speaking for the higher‑education subcommittee, summarized investments the subcommittee recommended to support access and campus facilities, and described a contentious issue the committee addressed: tuition mitigation.
The subcommittee recommended full funding of the Lottery Tuition Assistance programs (Life, Hope, Palmetto Fellows and related grants) with roughly $290,000,000 cited for those programs, and additional appropriations including $80,000,000 for NEEC grants, $5,000,000 for ReadySC, $20,000,000 for tuition grants and nearly $53,000,000 for lottery tuition assistance totals cited by the presenter.
On tuition mitigation, the Ways and Means Committee adopted an amended proviso that the presenter described as preventing institutions from raising tuition for continuing undergraduate students; the proviso permits an institution to set a higher tuition rate for incoming freshmen, and that rate is then locked in for that cohort for the remainder of their time at the institution, the presenter said. The presenter framed the measure as a way to preserve predictability for enrolled students while allowing institutions flexibility to address unsustainable tuition models.
Capital and maintenance: the subcommittee cited approximately $337,000,000 appropriated for maintenance, renovation and new construction across public campuses, and highlighted projects including The Citadel’s Deas Hall, Clemson’s next‑gen computing complex, MUSC campus renewal and $69,000,000 for technical‑college maintenance and replacement projects.
Why it matters: the proviso change and capital investments address both short‑term affordability concerns for in‑state students and longer‑term institutional facility needs; the presenter emphasized the state will need a sustainable model for tuition mitigation in coming years.
The subcommittee report was informational; final appropriations and proviso language will be determined during the floor process.
