USCB's goal is to grab more state dollars, drive down costs

State money is a hard thing to come by at USCB, making up only about 8 percent of its nearly $21 million annual budget. The rest comes from tuition and fees.

In the past few years, outgoing chancellor Jane Upshaw and the Beaufort County legislative delegation have been successful in turning the tide, persuading the S.C. General Assembly to raise USCB's total recurring state funding from $940 per student to $1,990 per student. It's the largest increase received by any South Carolina college during the period.

But the school still lags behind the state's other colleges in terms of state dollars, which averages to $3,000 per student. Only Coastal Carolina University receives less than USCB -- about $1,850.

Getting to the state average is a top priority, said Upshaw, incoming chancellor Al Panu and state lawmakers who represent Beaufort County.

"Why would students who go to USCB or USC Aiken and USC Upstate be worth less than kids who go to The Citadel or Francis Marion?" asked Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton. Both The Citadel and Francis Marion receive more than the state average.

"It should be across-the-board equal," he added.

Without additional funding, USCB is struggling to expand current programs and add new ones, according to funding parity advocates. It also cannot provide as many support services to students nor heighten the caliber of its student body -- since its reliance on tuition forces USCB to accept any student who meets its relatively low entrance requirements.

Despite its lack of state funding, USCB has one of the state's higher costs-per-student completion rates. That's the estimated amount of money a school spends on instruction, operations, academic support, etc. per degree it awards.

USCB also reports the lowest graduation rate of the state's 12 four-year public schools.

It doesn't trouble Sen. Tom Davis, a Beaufort Republican who continues to fight for more state dollars for the school.

"It is important to understand that the relatively low USCB graduation rates are not because USCB delivers an unsatisfactory product or because students are dropping out, but for two reasons," Davis said. "First, USCB has only been as a baccalaureate degree-granting institution since 2004, and to some degree, many students still consider USCB as an 'access' or a 'gateway' institution to other colleges and universities. Second, USCB still has a relatively limited number of degree programs available and it is not uncommon for students to start with USCB and transfer to a different university that has a specific academic program that it doesn't offer."

Upshaw said that more state dollars would bolster efforts to improve graduation rates and drive down the costs-per-student completion rate.

That's because it would create an economy of scale that doesn't currently exist. Right now, USCB must offer a long list of classes even though it only serves about 1,800 students. And that drives up costs.

"Our accreditation requires us to offer upper division classes for all of our degree programs but they have small class sizes because many students leave to complete their degrees elsewhere or have a different academic experience," Upshaw said. "So that's why ours is higher, simply because we are a young institution without the full menu of baccalaureate degrees."

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This story was originally published July 31, 2015 at 4:23 PM with the headline "USCB's goal is to grab more state dollars, drive down costs."