It’s that time of the year again. The University of South Carolina system has submitted its annual budget request to the South Carolina Legislature hoping to capture much-needed funds in order to continue educating citizens of this great state.
It’s that time of the year again. The University of South Carolina system has submitted its annual budget request to the South Carolina Legislature hoping to capture much-needed funds in order to continue educating citizens of this great state.
It’s requested $2.1 million for Palmetto College, $8.3 million to correct the drastic disparity among student funding, $23.3 million for deferred maintenance with $15 million allotted for USC Columbia and, importantly, $5 million for the “on your time graduation” initiative.
The “on your time” program could greatly change the way people access higher education in the state. For starters, it’ll provide a full semester of classes during the summer, the potential for greater flexibility in South Carolina lottery scholarships and other innumerable benefits.
This initiative is a wonderful opportunity that reaches out to all potential students, traditional and nontraditional alike, and recognizes their diverse and ever-changing needs. It can help reduce one’s tuition bill and can help anyone get ahead in their studies. Not all of us are traditional students and can manage the conventional workload of 15 or more credits per semester for eight semesters.
By allowing students to shorten their stay in college and providing more flexibility in juggling work and class time, “on your time” could help set our school system apart from the rest in a positive way.
We are proud our university system recognizes the need to continually innovate and renovate our school’s buildings and programs, especially with the “on your time graduation” initiative. We hope the South Carolina Legislature shares this same mindset and fully grants this important budget request.
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