Record enrollment, research and new infrastructure are a few of the topics University of South Carolina President Michael Amridis covered in his annual State of the University address on Wednesday.
The university broke another enrollment record in 2025, admitting 7,800 freshmen and bringing the total Columbia campus population to 40,200, Amiridis said in his speech.
Starting next year, the number of high school graduates in the country will start to decrease, lowering the rate of college applications, according to Amiridis. From 2025 to 2041, the population of high school graduates will enter a period of steady decline, resulting in a 13% decline over that period of time, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
“Many higher education institutions across the country are worried about this change,” Amiridis said. “But in South Carolina and beyond, the brand of USC is very strong and is becoming stronger every year. We have established a great reputation, and all indicators suggest that we will go against the trend.”
After his speech, Amiridis told reporters campus enrollment is expected to hold steady around its current number.
Students are not the only group rising in numbers. Since August 2024, 162 new faculty have been hired at USC, Amiridis said.
“At a time when some other universities are freezing new hires or even eliminating some positions, we’re attracting excellent colleagues at all ranks from across the country,” Amiridis said.
The university brought in a record $323 million in research funding, and over the past three years, the amount of sponsored awards increased by 36%, Amiridis said.
“The numbers indicate that the university is doing very well in a shifting and uncertain funding environment,” Amiridis said.
Last spring, the National Institutes of Health announced a cut to indirect funding rates, among other shifts in federal funding.
“We will see how this is going to affect us versus others, but I expect that the numbers overall across the country will be lower,” Amiridis said after his speech.
Some recent grants include a $5 million award from the federal Department of Education for a project seeking to better prepare students from low-income backgrounds for college, and a $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the identification of language and reading disorders in bilingual children, Amiridis said.
The university began the semester having completed a few infrastructure projects.
With the new Garnet Station dining hall open, USC served 17% more meals on the first day of class when compared to last year, according to Amiridis. A new pedestrian bridge will make the walk from South Quad to the rest of campus shorter and safer, he added. And the completion of the Science and Technology building’s East Tower will add “state-of-the-art” classrooms, lab spaces and study spaces, Amiridis said.
Despite the challenge of handling parking in an urban environment, USC has made recent improvements to transportation, including the new guidance system in the Bull Street garage, expanded shuttle services and an increased number of issued parking passes, Amiridis said.
In October, the renovation of Thornwell Residence Hall will wrap up, allowing residents of the soon-to-be-demolished McBryde Residence Hall to move in, Amiridis said.
McBryde’s demolition will pave the way for a modernized residence hall with 900 beds, and a new wing to the neighboring Honors College will add an additional 180 beds, Amiridis said.
“This is a period of turmoil in higher education and a lot of challenges,” Amiridis told reporters after his speech. “Despite this, we’re hitting records every year, and I’m very proud.”