South Carolina State University
Since 1896, South Carolina State University has maintained a legacy of excellence in education. We have been home to generations of scholars and leaders in business, military service, government, athletics, education, medicine, science, engineering technology and more. Located in Orangeburg, S.C., SC State was founded as a land grant college with a mission of providing education and service to the citizens of the state. In its first century, SC State was a leader in education and continues to lead the way into the next century.
Established
Students
Active Alumni
Accreditation
What is the accreditation status of South Carolina State University?
(Revised January 5, 2023)
South Carolina State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist, and doctoral degrees. Degree-granting institutions also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of South Carolina State University may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org).
SC State has been accredited since 1941 and has received reaffirmation each of the successive ten-year periods, with the latest in 2021. The next decennial reaffirmation is scheduled for 2030.
Other Accreditations
In addition to regional accreditation by SACSCOC, specific academic programs and support areas are also accredited by their corresponding national professional accrediting associations.
| Business Programs AACSB |
AACSB provides internationally recognized, specialized accreditation for business and accounting programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral level. It is the most recognized form of specialized/professional accreditation an institution and its business programs can earn. |
| Computer Science Programs ABET |
The Computer Science Program is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET to award bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science. Contact the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET at http://www.abet.org for questions about the accreditation of Computer Science Program at South Carolina State University. |
| Counselor Education Program | The Counselor Education Program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). CACREP Accreditation provides recognition that the content and quality of the program has been evaluated and meets standards set by the profession. |
| Engineering Technology Programs ABET |
The Civil Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Industrial Engineering Technology and Mechanical Engineering Technology programs are accredited by the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. |
| Family & Consumer Science Programs AAFCS |
The Family and Consumer Sciences programs are accredited by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (https://www.aafcs.org/credentialing-center/accreditation/accredited-units). |
| Music Programs NASM |
South Carolina State University is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) to award bachelor’s degrees in Music Education, K-12 and a Bachelors of Music Degree with an Emphasis in Music Industry. Contact the NASM at 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21, Reston, Virginia 20190-5248 or call 703-437-0700 for questions about the accreditation of South Carolina State University. |
| Nuclear Engineering Program ABET |
The Nuclear Engineering program at SC State University is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), www.abet.org. |
| Nutrition & Food Program ACEND |
The Nutrition and Food program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (https://www.eatrightpro.org/acend). |
| Rehabilitation Counseling Program CACREP |
The Rehabilitation Counseling Program at South Carolina State University is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). CACREP Accreditation provides recognition that the content and quality of the program has been evaluated and meets standards set by the profession. |
| Social Work Program CSWE |
The Social Work Program at South Carolina State University is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation. Accreditation of a baccalaureate or master’s social work program by the Council on Social Work Education’s Commission on Accreditation indicates that it meets or exceeds criteria for the assessment of program quality evaluated through a peer review process. An accredited program has sufficient resources to meet its mission and goals and the Commission on Accreditation has verified that it demonstrates compliance with all sections of the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Accreditation applies to all program sites and program delivery methods of an accredited program. Accreditation provides reasonable assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program. |
| Speech Pathology & Audiology Program (MA) ASHA |
The Speech Pathology and Audiology program at South Carolina State University is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard, #310, Rockville, MD 20850. |
| Studio Art Program NASAD |
The Studio Art program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, (NASAD). |
| Teacher Education Programs CAEP |
CAEP advances equity and excellence in educator preparation through evidence-based accreditation that assures quality and supports continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 student learning. |
| Child Development Learning Center NAEYC |
The Child Development Learning Center is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (https://www.naeyc.org/). |
| Counseling and Self-Development Center IACS |
The Counseling and Self-Development Center has been re-accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS), the accreditation association for university and college counseling centers. After being evaluated for its compliance with the IACS Standards, the highest standards available for campus counseling centers, the Counseling and Self-Development Center was found to offer outstanding professional services to its clientele. |
Administration
Alma Mater
Sing the praise of Alma Mater
Let us rally to her call
Lift our voices, send them ringing,
Thru the groves and classic halls.
Hail! Hail! Dear Alma Mater
Hail! Hail! Dear S.C. C.
We’ll defend and honor,
Love and cherish thee.
We are loyal sons and daughters
Proud to own the name we bear
For the truth that thou has taught us
Ready all to do and dare.
Hail! Hail! Dear Alma Mater
Hail! Hail! Dear S.C.C.
We’ll defend and honor,
Love and cherish thee.
Robert S. Wilkinson
T. D. Phillips – 1927
Facts & Statistics
SC State University, an 1890 land grant, senior comprehensive institution of approximately 2,900 students, is committed to providing affordable and accessible quality baccalaureate, master’s educational specialist and doctoral degree programs. SC State, through instruction, research, technology and service, contributes to economic development, enhances the quality of life of citizens, and prepares highly skilled, competent and socially aware graduates (30,000) to meet life’s challenges and demands and enables them to work and live productively in a dynamic, global society.
Academics
As South Carolina’s only public, historically black college and university (HBCU), there are several programs unique to SC State University (SC State).
SC State boasts:
- The only Bachelor of Science program in nuclear engineering in South Carolina and at an HBCU.
- The only Master of Science degree in transportation and the only Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in agribusiness in South Carolina.
- The only Doctor of Education degree in the state with a concentration in educational administration. SC State is ranked third in the nation in graduating minorities with the doctor of education degree.
- A Bachelor of Science degree in physics with an option or concentration in Medical Physics. Graduates of this program are prepared to enter employment in the field or go on to graduate school.
- A Top 10 ranking for most enrolled ROTC cadets (No. 1 HBCU) and No. 1 ranking in social mobility for three years (2006, 2007, and 2009) from Washington Monthly.
- The only HBCU to be ranked as an over performing College in the U.S. and No 5. Among national public HBCU’s by U.S. News and World Report.
- SC State’s Beta Gamma Sigma chapter was named an Exemplary Chapter International Honor Society in fall 2012.
- Identified as the exclusive HBCU for research in the state of South Carolina by Forbes Magazine.
Programs and Outreach
- SC State University is the only university in South Carolina participating in President Barack Obama’s USAID program to provide textbooks and other learning materials to schools in Africa (Zanzibar, Tanzania);
- Founded in 1947, SC State’s ROTC “Bulldog Battalion” averages approximately 100 cadets and is one of the largest producers of minority officers for the Army.
- The 1890 Research and Extension Program offers a variety of services to rural and urban limited resource families.
Facilities
- SC State consists of approximately 107 buildings on 160 acres of land on its main campus in Orangeburg, and an additional 267 acres at Camp Harry E. Daniels in Ellore, S.C.
- The new Engineering and Computer Science Complex opens in early 2013. The 24.5 million, 86, 500-square-foot complex will feature innovative classrooms, research centers, laboratories, offices and other academic support spaces.
- The James E. Clyburn Center conducts research and trains skilled workers, especially minority workers, in the transportation industry.
- SC State has the only undergraduate environmental science field station in the nation.
- SC State is the only HBCU in the country with an interdisciplinary art museum and planetarium in one facility, the I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium.
- The Leroy Davis Sr. Science and Research Complex, an extension of Hodge Hall, is a recently constructed state-of-the-art facility housing the Department of Biology and Physical Sciences. The Leroy Davis, Dr. Science and Research Complex opened in January 2011.
SC State Alumni includes
- Approximately 30,000 alumni, with more than 18,500 residing in South Carolina.
- Fifteen college presidents
- The Honorable James E. Clyburn, ‘61, Assistant Democrat Leader
- General Clifford Stanley, ‘69, was appointed as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
- Major General Abraham J. Turner, ‘76, commanded the nation’s largest initial entry training post (Fort Jackson).
- Brigadier General Stephen Twitty, ‘84, was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the nation’s third highest award for valor during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
- More than 2035 minority officers in the U.S. Army and 16 General Officers.
- The Honorable Matthew Perry, Jr., ‘48, Senior U.S. District Judge
- The Honorable Ernest Finney, Jr., ‘54, former S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice
- The Honorable Donald Beatty, ‘74, third African-American Supreme Court Judge in S.C.
- Coach Willie Jefferies, ‘60, was inducted into the 2010 College Football Hall of Fame
- One hundred and nineteen athletes who have entered the ranks of professional sports.
- Harry Carson, ‘75, David “Deacon” Jones, ‘58 and Marion Motley, ‘39 were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- John Gilliam, ‘67, was the first player from SC State University drafted by the NFL.
Athletics
- The SC State Bulldog Athletic program offers six men’s sports and six women’s sports as a member of the Division I Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
- The SC State Bulldog football team has won or shared five MEAC titles (‘04, ‘08, ‘09, ‘10, “13).
- The 2010 volleyball team won the MEAC championship and made its first ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.
- The Bulldog men’s and women’s tennis teams have won a combined 20 championships in the last 12 seasons under two-time USTA Coach of the Year Hardeep Judge.
With the various activities on campus and the thousands of individuals who visit SC State, the University significantly impacts the economy of the City of Orangeburg, as well as the State of South Carolina. In the Orangeburg community, SC State supports 1,558 jobs and has a $152.5 million impact; and our statewide impact is $181.5 million.
History of SC State University
Founded in 1896 as the state’s sole public college for black youth, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY has played a key role in the education of African-Americans in the state and nation. As a land-grant institution, it struggled to provide agricultural and mechanical training to generations of black youngsters. Through its extension program, it sent farm and home demonstration agents into rural counties to provide knowledge and information to impoverished black farm families.
The University has educated scores of teachers for the public schools. It provided education in sciences, literature, and history. The support of the Rosenwald Fund and the General Education Board helped the institution survive the Depression. After World War II, the state legislature created a graduate program and a law school at SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY to prevent black students from enrolling in the University of South Carolina’s graduate and legal education programs. The legislature also dramatically increased funding at the college in an effort to make “separate but equal” a reality in higher education in South Carolina. During the 1950s and 1960s hundreds of S.C. STATE students participated in local civil rights demonstrations and were arrested. In 1968 three young men were slain and 27 wounded on the campus by state highway patrolmen in the Orangeburg Massacre.
Since 1966, S.C. STATE has been open to white students and faculty, but it has largely retained its mission and character as an historically black institution. In 1971, the agricultural program was terminated and the college farm was transformed into a community recreation center consisting of a golf course as well as soccer and baseball fields. Today there are nearly 5000 students majoring in a wide range of programs that include agribusiness, accounting, art, English, and drama as well as fashion merchandising, physics, psychology, and political science.
Mission
South Carolina State University (SC State) is a historically Black public 1890 land-grant senior comprehensive institution. Located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, SC State University is committed to providing affordable and accessible quality baccalaureate programs in the areas of business, applied professional sciences, mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, engineering technology, education, arts, and humanities. A number of programs are offered at the master’s level in teaching, human services and agribusiness, and the educational specialist and doctorate programs are offered in educational administration.
SC State University prepares highly skilled, competent and socially aware graduates to enable them to work and live productively in a dynamic, global society. Through technology and traditional methods of teaching and learning, research and service, the University enhances the quality of life of citizens and contributes to the economic development of the state and nation.
(This mission statement was approved by the S.C. State University Board of Trustees on October 9, 2018, and by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education on October 23, 2018.)
Office of Internal Audit and Process Improvement
Mission Statement
The mission of the Office of Internal Audit and Process Improvement is to provide a wide range of quality audit services to our customers. We will accomplish our mission by:
- Using innovative approaches in performing independent assessments of systems, controls, and efficiencies; guided by professional standards
- Supporting our customers’ efforts to achieve their objectives
- Promoting the full understanding, acceptance, and utilization of the internal auditing function by all levels of university management
- Rendering assessments and advice for improving activities that will advance the goals and objectives of the university.
Definition of Internal Audit
Internal audit is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps organizations accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance process.
Reporting Structure and Authority
Internal Audit reports functionally to the Board of Trustees via its Executive Committee and administratively to the President. Our reporting structure and charter allows us to be independent of the functions we audit and gives us the authority needed for full, free and unrestricted access to all operations, records, property and personnel within the University.
No legitimate source of information is to be closed to Internal Audit. Documents and information provided to Internal Audit staff during an examination are handled in the same discreet manner as by those employees normally accountable for them. Internal Audit staff is obligated to protect the privacy of confidential and proprietary information accessed during the course of its activities.
Organizational Chart
Title III
Quality Enhancement Plan
South Carolina State University will launch its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) in Fall 2020. The QEP is called MESA: Making Education Student-Focused & Achievable. MESA is also the Spanish word for table.
Our motto is “Setting the Table for Student Success.” This will be accomplished by
- Utilizing Active Learning Strategies in General Education Courses — Faculty have identified specific learning strategies that will help students succeed in the classroom. Faculty training on these strategies will begin in Summer 2020.
- Revamping University 101 — We want the incoming freshmen to embrace strategies for academic success early in their first semester. These strategies will be taught first in University 101, which all freshmen are required to take.
- Providing Early Intervention for At-Risk Students — Students can sometimes struggle. In-class assessments will be conducted early in the semester to determine which students will benefit from the many resources available to help them on their academic journey. The Student Success and Retention Programs (SSRP) staff will provide support for all students who need assistance.
We are in this together. MESA is all about student success, your success. At SC State, YOU have a seat at the table! This fall MESA is waiting for you….
What is MESA? It’s our QEP, our Quality Enhancement Plan. It’s our plan for your success. MESA stands for Making Education Student-Focused and Achievable. It’s also Spanish for table. At SC State, we’re setting the table for your success. We’re setting the table, and we want you there.
At SC State, YOU have a seat at the table.