USC sorely needs more state funding.
President Harris Pastides made a convincing case in his State of the University address last month that legislators should appease this request. We’ll know soon whether his pleas were heard.
Gov. Nikki Haley and other state politicians convened at a higher education summit today. The topic? Reforming the flawed funding criteria for state universities. We believe that, regardless of which criteria they choose, USC should have a funding increase in its near future.
Gov. Haley wants funding to be based on which schools educate the South Carolina workforce the best.
That’s a check for USC. No university on earth educates more South Carolinians than USC does, and second doesn’t even come close. We boost the employment rates in this state more than any other school. If that doesn’t merit more funding, nothing does.
USC also happens to be the only research institution in South Carolina. That has to be worth something.
In addition, USC’s made every improvement the state has asked it to. The i’s are dotted, the t’s crossed, and now it deserves a reward.
Sadly, only 10 percent of our funding comes from the state, and that’s got to change.
Haley also said “we are not going to fund universities based on football tickets.”
That’s fine. But if it were, we’d just like to point out, USC would be a shoo-in for all the state cash available there as well.
What’s Clemson ranked again?