COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tuition Grant recipients at SCICU’s 21 member colleges and universities joined forces to send more than 7,100 thank-you letters to members of the South Carolina General Assembly during the 2023 session.
The impact of the letter-writing campaign reaches every corner of South Carolina, as all 46 counties are represented among the more than 12,000 Tuition Grants recipients attending SCICU colleges and universities. Approximately 60 percent of the in-state students attending SCICU schools are Tuition Grants recipients.
“Our students sending so many hand-written letters of appreciation to legislators sends the powerful message that the Tuition Grants Program is of statewide importance and essential to the future of South Carolina,” said SCICU President and CEO Jeff Perez. “Our students’ letter-writing grassroots advocacy is approaching its third decade, and we are proud to again report 100 percent participation among SCICU’s 21 member institutions in the Tuition Grants letter-writing campaign.”
With 1,496 thank-you letters mailed to General Assembly members during the 2023 session, North Greenville University’s Tuition Grants recipients led the charge in the letter-writing campaign. NGU barely bested Anderson University’s 1,458 thank-you letters written in 2023. Both North Greenville and Anderson are perennial leaders in the SCICU Tuition Grants letter-writing campaign.
With all of its Tuition Grants recipients sending thank-you letters to their respective senators and representatives, Allen University achieved 100% student participation in the letter-writing campaign.
The letter-writing campaign culminated with the April 19 Joint Higher Education Day at the S.C. State House. More than 100 students and campus representatives from SCICU institutions, the state’s public four-year universities, and the technical college system converged on the State House to express thanks in person with members of the S.C. House, Senate, and Gov. Henry McMaster.
South Carolina update