USC lost $17.5M after Trump pulled money from colleges. These programs were cut
A study of services for the blind and visually-impaired. A hospital-based violence prevention program. Curriculum practices for librarians. Research on addressing health disparities in high-risk South Carolinians.
Money for those projects at the University of South Carolina, and many other services and programs, is now lost, according to a list obtained from USC by The State through a public records request.
The university has had at least 57 research grants — totaling $17.5 million in funding — terminated after the federal government began pulling already-awarded money from colleges and universities across the country.
USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said the terminated grants account for less than 3% of USC’s $633 million in sponsored awards.
“While the terminated grants represent a relatively small portion of USC’s sponsored award portfolio, they are not insignificant,” Stensland said. “The grants were competitively awarded by a host of federal agencies following a rigorous review process.”
Since World War II, the federal government has supported higher education funding, sending large sums of money for research and innovation. In fiscal year 2023 alone, $60 billion flowed to colleges and universities across the country, The New York Times reported.
But when President Donald Trump took office, he began making sweeping changes.
A directive from his administration earlier this year prompted the National Institutes of Health, a major source of money for medical research, to announce that indirect costs associated with new and existing research grant awards — like building maintenance and staffing — would be capped, opening up USC to potential losses mounting to $70 million. It’s just one example.
Stensland said the university is supporting its faculty in appealing terminations and assisting researchers in finding other funding.
All USC faculty now have access the university’s newly established Carolina Grants and Innovation Hub, a research development resource for all disciplines to find and write research grant applications.
“As the state’s flagship university, a large part of USC’s mission is to pursue scientific knowledge through groundbreaking research and that will not change,” Stensland said. “We are encouraged that despite a shifting research funding landscape, USC faculty researchers continue to successfully pursue new awards.”
Researchers are exceeding last year’s application submissions and awarded funding totals, he said, thanks to the faculty’s commitment to “aggressively pursue projects that can enhance the lives of South Carolinians by improving the health of residents, building our state’s economy, and strengthening our national security.”
It is possible that more federal grant terminations may follow, Stensland said. They university just doesn’t know.
The 57 terminated grants funded the following projects at USC are:
▪ Think Tank Capacity Building
▪ Personal services contract
▪ Identifying Opportunities for Retention of BIPOC Librarians Using Survival Analysis
▪ UofSC Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program
▪ VA Contract: Molecular and Viral Services
▪ Underrepresented Perspectives in South Carolina Newspapers
▪ Development, Assessment and Simulation of Enabling Fuels for Naval Decarbonization
▪ Melding Academics, Support, and Training of Educators for higher Retention Yields (MASTERY)
▪ Role of the environmental sensor, AhR on colitis (Diversity Supplement)
▪ Collection Management and Preservation Efforts for Native American Collections at the University of South Carolina Lancaster
▪ Identity-Based Routines in the Public Library: Structuring the Workplace to Better Support Staff with Diverse Identities
▪ Role of macrophages in CBD mediated attenuation of SEB-induced ARDS
▪ Regulating axon guidance through local translation at adhesions (Diversity Supplement)
▪ Equitable Access for the Blind, Visually Impaired, and Print-Disabled (BVIPD) Students in Online Learning: A Study of BVIPD Services Among Southeastern Conference (SEC) Institutions
▪ Does the Diversity Perspective of R1 Institutions matter for the workplace inclusion of their Black and Hispanic Engineering Faculty?
▪ Collaborative Research: Advancing Collaborations for Equity in Marine and Climate Sciences (ACE-MCS)
▪ Justice Sector Training, Research, and Coordination (JusTRAC) 3.0
▪ Trajectories of Targeted Violence: Mobilization Trends and Interdiction Opportunities
▪ Scaling Capacity: Developing Residents and Educators Around Equity-Centered MTSS (SC-DREAM)
▪ Utility and feasibility of activity type to augment consumer wearable-based estimates of physical activity energy expenditure using heart rate and movement in children
▪ Next generation mosquito control through technology-driven trap development and artificial intelligence guided detection of mosquito breeding habitats (Diversity Supplement)
▪ Preparation of Stimuli-Responsive Materials with Directed Photophysical Behavior
▪ The ADAR Summit Meeting
▪ Project Library PREPARE: Planning, Response, Emergency Preparedness, and Resilience Education
▪ Leveraging National Library Partnerships to Develop a Community-Driven Online LGBTQIA+ Consumer Health Guide
▪ Faculty Initiative for Improved Recruitment, Retention, and Experience (FIIRRE)
▪ Extending School Librarian Preparation Through Transitional Mentorship with Early Career School Librarians
▪ South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program
▪ Advancing Justice for Workers (AJW) in Zambia and Malawi
▪ PRIDE-CARES Center: Patient-Responsive Initiatives for Diverse Engagement - LGBTQ+ Community Action in Research to Eliminate Substance Use Disorder Center
▪ NPS Save America’s Treasures: SCIAA Collections
▪ Demonstrating with Data: An Evidence-based Practice Curriculum for School Librarians
▪ Kosovo Area Studies Course
▪ Incentive for Carolina Collaborative for Alternative Preparation (CarolinaCAP)
▪ South Carolina’s Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities
▪ Activation and Expansion of the Libraries and Health Innovations Program
▪ SC Nursing Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities & Inequities
▪ Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship
▪ Internship Support STO for Ukraine Justice for All (J4A)
▪ The Practice Model for an Equitable Workplace Transition Program (EWTP): Disability and Neurodiversity
▪ Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Rural Community Pharmacies: Reducing Disparities Through an Implementation Science Approach
▪ Addressing COVID-19 Health Disparities Among High-Risk, Underserved Populations in South Carolina
▪ Clinical Legal Expert Support STO for Ukraine Justice for All (J4A)
▪ Resource for Assistance and Community Training - Region 4 (REACT4EJ)
▪ Addressing Social Determinants of Health and Community Violence through a Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program
▪ Disaster Resistant University Grant
▪ EJ Strong PREP: Practicing Risk Reduction Education through Partnership in South Carolina
▪ Long COVID, Economic Outcomes, and SSA Program Participation
▪ Advancing Tobacco Regulatory Science to Reduce Health Disparities: Advancing Communication Science to Reduce Disparities in Young Adult Cigar Use
▪ BIL - Durable, Low-Cost, Manufacturable AEM Electrolyzer Components
▪ Understanding the Impact of Vaping Prevention Ads on Adolescents and Young Adults
▪ Freely Associated States Prosecutorial Development Project (FASPro)
▪ Healthy Palmetto Evaluation 2024-2025
▪ NSF Convergence Accelerator Track F: Building Trust in Communication Systems by Addressing Misinformation-Driven Online Abuse and Harassment
▪ Tobacco Use Among Hispanic/Latinos in SC
▪ Interprofessional Education in Infection Prevention: Establishing the South Carolina Regional Infection Prevention Training (SCRIPT) Center
▪ Evaluation of Florence County School District Three’s School-Based Mental Health Project
This story was originally published May 9, 2025 at 10:15 AM.
