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Tuition Grants Commission: need‑based awards reach nearly 12,500 students in 2023–24; maximum grant $4,800
Summary
Katie Harrison, executive director of the Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission, briefed the subcommittee on the agency’s mission, program scope, participant counts, and a long‑term cost‑avoidance calculation.
At a meeting of the Higher Education Subcommittee, Katie Harrison, executive director of the Higher Education Tuition Grants Commission, described the commission’s need‑based tuition grant program for students who attend independent colleges in South Carolina.
Harrison said the commission’s mission is “to provide access and opportunity for more South Carolinians to pursue a post‑secondary education by providing need‑based tuition grants to students who choose an independent higher education.” She told the subcommittee the program uses the FAFSA to determine financial need and works with financial aid offices at 22 participating independent institutions.
Harrison said the tuition grant program has operated since the law was enacted on May 1, 1970, and the commission awarded its first grants in 1972. For the 2023–24 academic year, she said the maximum tuition grant is $4,800 per eligible student, and nearly 12,500 students received funding in 2023–24; the commission expects to exceed 13,000 recipients for 2024–25 as disbursements continue. She said the commission administers the program with a small staff—four full‑time equivalent employees.
Harrison described a long‑term “cost avoidance” calculation the commission maintains: comparing the tuition grant amounts to the per‑student public subsidy that would have been required if the same students attended public institutions. She said that over the program’s history the commission estimates roughly $994 million in cost avoidance to the state based on that method.
The commission’s governing structure includes an ex officio member from CHE (Dr. Jeff Perez) and eight rotating president members from participating independent institutions, Harrison said. She provided the committee with the commission’s annual report and an infographic showing participating institutions are distributed across the state. Harrison said the program complements other aid: tuition grants are need‑based and may be combined with federal grants, work study, and state merit scholarships where students qualify.
The chair and members thanked Harrison and noted the commission will be subject to oversight (HLOG) this year, and they said they would follow up with oversight staff for additional details.
