Programs
SCICU Scholars Program
The SCICU Scholars Program was developed in 1994 to encourage investment in undergraduate student scholars at SCICU’s member institutions. SCICU Scholars Program benefactors recognize the value of their investment in SCICU students for fueling growth of future leaders and the South Carolina economy. They also recognize that the cost of college may prove prohibitive to outstanding young people with high potential for long-term success. For the 2021-2022 academic year, the SCICU Scholars Program awarded $383,200 to undergraduate students at SCICU member colleges and universities. Criteria for scholarships are developed with each donor.
McLean – Smith SCICU Student of the Year Award / Scholarship
In 2016, the SCICU Board of Trustees elected to combine the J. Lacy McLean and the Sterling L. Smith Scholarships into the McLean-Smith SCICU Student of the Year Award, and consolidate the scholarship into one $3,000 award. J. Lacy McLean advocated for independent higher education in South Carolina for over 34 years. Sterling L. Smith was instrumental in the development of the SC Tuition Grants Program. The award recognizes students who perform well academically and who demonstrate commitments to public affairs, community service, and leadership.
Full-time rising seniors attending SCICU member colleges and universities are eligible to be nominated for the combined scholarship award. The recipient must be a South Carolina resident and a SC Tuition Grant recipient. Rising sophomores at SCICU two-year institutions are also eligible for the award.
SCICU Student Lifeline Grants Program
Need-based grants have played an essential role for students at SCICU member colleges and universities since SCICU’s founding in 1953. Lifeline Grants help SCICU students persevere through financial crises, stay in school, and complete their degrees. Campus financial aid directors select grant recipients who are identified as at-risk for dropping out. For fiscal year 2021-2022, $125,970 was distributed to SCICU member institutions for helping students persist through unforeseen financial difficulties and earn their degrees.
SCICU Undergraduate Student/Faculty Research Program
Initially developed in 1995, the SCICU Undergraduate Student/Faculty Program increases research opportunities for undergraduate students attending SCICU member institutions. Research projects are selected for funding based on rigorous subject-area expert review. Participating students have opportunities to develop professional research and presentation skills, the benchmarks of highly-qualified professional researchers. SCICU raises funds each year to support this important program.
On February 20, 2025, twenty-four students and twenty-two faculty mentors from 14 SCICU member institutions showcased their research at Milliken & Company in Spartanburg, South Carolina. SCICU awarded $71,733.84 in research funds thanks to generous donations from BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Belle W. Baruch Foundation, The Daniel-Mickel Foundation, South Carolina Student Loan:Power Ed, Mills B.Lane Foundation, and the SCICU Endowment Fund.
Joint Higher Education Day at the South Carolina State House
After a months-long, statewide “Thanks for my Tuition Grant!” letter-writing campaign, SCICU students gathered at the South Carolina Statehouse on April 1 to express their gratitude for the General Assembly’s continued strong support of the S.C. Tuition Grants program, which provides need-based financial aid. During Higher Education Day at the Statehouse, SCICU students joined their peers from the S.C. Technical College System and the state’s public four- and two-year institutions to meet with state senators, representatives, and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, thanking them for their commitment to funding the need-based aid that helps thousands of South Carolinians achieve their dream of earning a college degree.
Excellence in Teaching Faculty Awards Program
Each year SCICU recognizes outstanding faculty from each of its 21 member colleges and universities and honors them with a $3,000 professional development grant at a special awards dinner in Columbia. Earnings from the SCICU Endowment fund the $63,000 needed to award the 21 Excellence in Teaching grants.
Consortia Groups and Purchasing Coalition
SCICU staff helps coordinate and participates in various campus communities of interest to include meetings with representatives in academic affairs, admissions, business affairs, student affairs, career services, libraries, institutional research, information technology, and human resources. These groups come together periodically to share information and work on solutions to common problems.
SCICU and its member schools have formed a purchasing coalition to leverage economies of scale to reduce the cost of purchasing common goods and services. This is done primarily through the Coalition for College Cost Savings; however, SCICU has negotiated favorable purchasing agreements with a number of national suppliers.
As part of this initiative, SCICU established a Business Partners Program beginning in 2010. Companies desiring to provide goods or services to the member colleges and universities may register as a Business Partner. A company profile and contact information of each Business Partner is posted on the SCICU website in an electronic marketplace and the partners are recognized in SCICU’s monthly newsletter and in the annual report. Membership in the Business Partners Program costs $250 annually and now includes 38 partners.
NOTE: 100% of all funds raised by SCICU go back to the colleges and universities in the form of grants or scholarships.