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University of South Carolina asks legislature for recurring funds and major capital investments including new medical school and pharmacy facility
Summary
USC system leaders told the House Ways and Means Higher Education Subcommittee they are seeking $40.8 million in recurring tuition mitigation and a mix of recurring and nonrecurring funding for a new medical school, a College of Pharmacy facility, expanded clinical services and workforce programs.
The University of South Carolina system told lawmakers it is asking for a mix of recurring and one-time funding to expand medical education, health-care facilities and workforce programs.
At a subcommittee hearing, Doctor Amiritis, president of the University of South Carolina system, said the system’s top recurring priority is $40,800,000 for tuition mitigation to hold tuition steady across system campuses. "Tuition mitigation is how you actually take this," Doctor Amiritis said, framing the request as a state–university partnership to keep higher education affordable.
Why it matters: Lawmakers must reconcile the system’s request with the governor’s budget, which the chair noted includes $30,000,000 for tuition mitigation. The difference will be part of the Ways and Means deliberations this spring.
What USC is proposing: The president outlined several major projects and programmatic asks. He described a $300,000,000 School of Medicine on the Bull Street Health Sciences campus, saying the project has been funded with "a cumulative total of $200,000,000 in incremental state appropriations over several years, as well as $100,000,000 in cash that we set aside by the university." He added the facility is on time and on budget and that "we have not borrowed a penny for this great facility." The system also asked for $25,500,000 in recurring funds to support early-phase operations for a planned neurological hospital and rehabilitation center.
The presentation included nonrecurring capital requests: $90,000,000 for a dedicated College of Pharmacy building on the Health Sciences campus, $7,000,000 for the Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation, and $10,000,000 for an ROTC Center of Excellence. President Amiritis highlighted that private fundraising reached $260,000,000 last year and cited a $75,000,000 gift that led to a college naming.
Other priorities noted included $9,000,000 in recurring funds to grow medical-school class sizes at Columbia and Greenville and $1,500,000 to expand the statewide Brain Health Network. President Amiritis said the brain-health clinics have recorded nearly 2,100 patient visits and reduced average wait times in some communities from nine months to "four or five weeks." He also described workforce initiatives including a state internship program that has awarded about $5,200,000 in supplements to place roughly 1,800 students with more than 500 employers.
What happens next: The subcommittee will consider these requests as part of its budget negotiations. Representative Ballantine told the room the committee will take up provisos and work to reconcile differences between the system’s request and the governor’s proposal.
Ending: USC officials said they are available to provide more detail as staff draft proviso language and as the Ways and Means process continues.
