USC’s 225-year commitment to a world class, affordable college education | Opinion

Meeting the higher education needs of South Carolina has been USC’s mission since its founding in 1801. As we celebrate the university’s 225th anniversary this year, USC continues to provide excellence and value to South Carolina students and the state’s economy.

We do this while knowing it is imperative that our state have a flagship institution that offers an affordable, world class education to South Carolinians. We accomplish this at USC through conservative and thoughtful budget management, along with tremendous state and donor support.

The results speak for themselves — beyond our financial strength, look at our record of achievements in our classrooms, our research labs and in South Carolina communities.

USC offers 60-plus nationally ranked academic programs — a state high. And we post a graduation rate that ranks among the top 10 percent for public universities across the country.

Across the Columbia campus, academic and residential buildings are undergoing improvements to attract students, to prepare them with skills that are much needed in their careers and to provide support for cutting-edge research.

USC is also making South Carolina healthier by focusing on brain health, with clinics serving communities across the state, a high-tech Brain Health Center in Columbia, and a planned neurological and rehabilitation hospital on a new Health Sciences Campus that will include new medical school and pharmacy college buildings.

The university is setting records in degrees awarded, research expenditures and fundraising, all while contributing billions to the state’s economy each year.

We are proud to be able to offer an excellent, high-quality education while attracting more in-state students than at any time in our history, thanks to increasingly strong government support and vigilant fiscal management.

And USC has accomplished this while being recognized as the state’s top-ranked “Best Value School,” according to U.S. News & World Report.

With the support of our state, USC has held tuition at the same level for in-state residents for seven consecutive years. And we plan to freeze tuition this fall for a record eighth year.

This commitment is saving in-state students and their families thousands of dollars a year. This fall, our in-state students will pay 26.5 percent less to attend USC than if the university had raised tuition by the annual general inflation rate over the past seven years. Over their four years at USC, these students and their families will save more than $10,000, thanks to the tuition freeze.

Working within our contractual and bond obligations, we have relentlessly negotiated food and housing expenses every year to keep those expenses below market as well.

We have also made college more affordable for students with several new initiatives in recent years. One example is the USC Commitment Grant, which fully covers the tuition and fees for high school students across our state who are in the top 10 percent of their graduating class and meet household income limits.

We have a track record of making hard investment decisions and use our funding wisely to fulfill our mission and serve the state, whether it comes from tuition, state appropriations, or donor gifts.

Despite the current headwinds confronting higher education, large public universities like USC thrive when they focus on their mission and manage their funds well. At USC, we have been saving and using cash for some capital projects rather than simply borrowing money for them. Like families in South Carolina, it is our responsibility to live within our means but also provide the high-quality education that our students deserve. We are doing that.

For 225 years, the University of South Carolina has been a “faithful index to the ambitions and fortunes of the state.” To accomplish our founders’ goals, we adhere to the highest standards in delivering education and research while carefully managing resources — our students and the taxpayers of South Carolina deserve nothing less — and we are confident that our successors will continue our efforts for the next 225 years.

Thad H. Westbrook is chairman of the USC Board of Trustees, and Michael D. Amiridis is president of USC.