South Carolina update – Good news from the S.C. Senate

The S.C. Senate approved its version of the state budget and, like the House, it contains just about everything we could hope for.

• Tuition Grants Commission retained $20 million in lottery revenue.
• CHE Needs-Based Program retained $80 million of lottery funding. NOTE: Tuition Grants Program gets about 15% of that, based on enrollment.
• Merit Scholarships were fully funded at $286 million in lottery revenue.
• PASCAL was fully funded at $1.5 million in lottery revenue.

Because the Senate version of the budget is not exactly the same as the House’s budget, a conference committee will be formed to hammer out a compromise budget.

The very good news is that the House and Senate agree on our priorities.