South Carolina’s 2024-25 budget bill was ratified by the General Assembly on June 26. With no challenges to Governor McMaster’s July 3 vetoes, the bill was enacted. Thankfully the budget preserved SCICU’s legislative priorities:
- The S.C. Tuition Grants Commission retained $20 million in lottery revenue.
- The S.C. Commission on Higher Education Needs-Based Program retained its lottery revenue of $80 million. NOTE: The Tuition Grants Program gets about 15% of that, based on enrollment.
- South Carolina Merit Scholarships were fully funded at $286 million in lottery revenue.
- PASCAL (Partnership Among S.C. Academic Libraries) was fully funded at $1.5 million in lottery revenue.
- SCICU member institutions were added to the BOLD™ nursing faculty tuition reimbursement program.
- Columbia College and Converse University were included in HEEEP (Higher Education Excellence Enhancement Program) – HEEEP campuses to receive $1 million in lottery revenue.
Federal update