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Winthrop touts enrollment surge, new academic programs and asks for capital, deferred maintenance and safety funding
Summary
Winthrop told the subcommittee it has reversed enrollment declines, launched first‑in‑state programs (AI, fintech, aviation) and seeks tuition mitigation, building renovations, deferred maintenance funding and repairs for a campus dam.
Winthrop University presented testimony to the House Ways and Means Higher Education Subcommittee highlighting enrollment growth, new academic offerings aligned with regional workforce needs, and a slate of budget requests for operational and capital needs.
President (identified in the record as Dr. Serna) said Winthrop's freshman class has grown 43% since 2022, transfer enrollment has grown 52% and overall enrollment rose 12% last year; he also cited a 95% fall‑to‑spring retention rate. The president described new academic programs—an undergraduate degree in artificial intelligence (the first in the state), a fintech degree, expanded game‑design tied to a successful eSports program, and an aviation management program that partners with the Rock Hill Airport to pair a bachelor's degree with a commercial pilot license.
Kevin Butler, Winthrop's CFO, requested $2,300,000 in tuition mitigation to maintain current operations without raising tuition. He described cost pressures (HEPI, software and contract inflation, benefit increases) and a recurring need to support an $8.1 million facilities‑management contract after outsourcing. Butler also requested $10,000,000 to renovate Winthrop's original university building into a consolidated 'student one‑stop,' additional funds to address academic space deficiencies (including $2.5 million for wireless/technology), $7,500,000 for deferred maintenance and $2,500,000 to repair deficiencies at the Lake Winthrop dam after DHEC reduced its hazard rating following prior remediation work.
Butler and the president emphasized tuition transparency reforms (a per‑credit pricing model) and said Winthrop lowered tuition last year. Committee members asked the university to review a Department of Education regulation under consideration that could change which professions are classified for certain federal aid (concerning social work, nursing and other advanced degrees); Winthrop said faculty leadership had not yet raised the issue but that it would be reviewed.
Lawmakers did not vote; they encouraged follow‑up and noted the university's regional workforce emphasis, especially paid internships and industry partnerships.
