$5 million in state funds to bring more degree programs online in coming years
Flush with $5 million in new state funds, Palmetto College is ramping up its rollout, with new degree programs and more advisers coming next year.
Over the summer, the state legislature approved $2.8 million in recurring funds and a one-time infusion of $2.2 million for USC’s online degree program for students who have already completed 60 credit hours.
According to Provost Michael Amiridis, that will allow the university to get more programs online faster.
Between five and seven degree programs will be rolled out next fall, Amiridis said, and Palmetto College will be able to add more programs each year after.
Previously, the university expected to add just one new degree program each year after its start.
“We can accelerate,” Amiridis said. “Instead of doing this one degree at a time — because that’s pretty much all we could afford on our own — we can get things moving much faster.”
In April, Amiridis said his office planned to try out two Palmetto Programs degrees — in liberal arts and organizational leadership — and had gotten five more pitches, for degrees in criminal justice, conversion nursing, human services, business and “some type of education degree.”
The new money will also let the program grow its student services and hire more advisers.
Those advisers will work at USC’s regional campuses and will be available to meet with students in person about issues with classes, schedules or technology.
“Quite frankly, that’s what differentiates us,” Amiridis said. “No matter where you are in South Carolina, you’re roughly an hour, an hour and a half drive from a regional campus, so if push comes to shove, you can drive there and see a person.”
How the accelerated rollout will affect some aspects of the Palmetto College program is not yet clear. An updated projection of its finances hasn’t been completed, according to Ed Walton, USC’s chief financial officer, because enrollment estimates aren’t yet available.
Before the university got the $5 million in state funds, the university expected that class sizes would grow yearly by 50 to 100 students, taking 22 credit hours each and paying $367 per hour.
Whether those estimates will change under a new set of projections is unclear. How much revenues and expenses for the program will increase at the accelerated rate isn’t yet clear either.
The program, which will absorb the university’s regional, two-year campuses, also awaits the announcement of its chancellor.
Earlier this month, Amiridis said that a search committee for the position had been formed and that the committee had put together a job description.
The committee plans to conduct a nationwide search, Amiridis said, but he gave no estimated timeline for the search.
In the meantime, the program will start in earnest next month when its first group of students starts class.
Those students are enrolled in Back to Carolina, an adult education program that allows students who once dropped out to come back and finish their degrees.
Of the approximately 120 students who applied for the fall semester, 60 were admitted, Amiridis said. Of them, 45 have registered for the fall.
They will study in a liberal arts curriculum, giving administrators a chance to find and fix issues.
“We’re only starting with one degree, so that will help us get the bugs worked out of the system,” Amiridis said.