Proposal to cut USCB history degree prompts outcry in 315-year-old Beaufort, SC
History is on the chopping block at a South Carolina university located in 315-year-old Beaufort, one of the state’s most historic cities.
Staff at the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE), which oversees 33 public higher education institutions across the state, is recommending that the history major degree offered at the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) be terminated. The CHE is evaluating its academic programs across the state as part of its regular review process.
No final decisions have been made.
The proposal to cut the history degree doesn’t sit well with the Beaufort campus. Also objecting are local and state historians and the city of Beaufort, whose neighborhoods include stately Civil War-era antebellum houses and simple freedman’s cottages and Revolutionary War sites like the Beaufort Arsenal.
The historic sites attract thousands and generate millions in tourist revenue for businesses and accommodation taxes for the city.
“I think it’s misguided and shortsighted,” Larry Rowland, a retired 30-year USCB history professor who wrote a three-volume history of Beaufort County, said of the plan to terminate the history degree in the historic city.
Any respectable university should be teaching the humanities to students, even those who are not majoring in those subjects, Rowland said. That’s especially true in a historic city like Beaufort, he said, which has the oldest history in the country north of Florida.
“We’re living in the heart of history,” Rowland told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet.
The move to cut the local college history major comes as Beaufort, along with the rest of the country, is preparing to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the nation.
The British first established Beaufort as a permanent town in 1711 but the Spanish and French arrived in the 1500s. Evidence of Native American tribes remain in shell rings and ceremonial mounds.
The specific proposal on the table is removing the major degree the school offers in history, said Brian Mallory, executive director of planning, analytics and compliance at USCB, not the history department.
Many of the same history courses would continue to be taught in the minor history degree program, which still would be offered, Mallory said. History courses also would continue in support of general education and other degree programs, Mallory said.
As a result, the three full-time faculty members in the history program would not lose their jobs, Mallory said, but some adjunct instructors might no longer me needed.
The real harm would be the elimination of the history major, which is a key qualification for many local employment opportunities at historic facilities like Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, Parris Island Museum, Penn Center and Mather Museum and Interpretive Center at The Technical College of the Lowcountry, Mallory said.
Also, many local students couldn’t major in history if it wasn’t offered in Beaufort because the nearest South Carolina public institutions with that degree are in Columbia and Charleston, Mallory said.
“It means students in our service region will not be able to get a history degree if they want one,” he said.
Also recommended for termination is the school’s sociology major.
Beaufort City Council will weigh in
The Beaufort City Council was scheduled to vote Tuesday evening on a resolution that objects to the proposed elimination of the history major.
The resolution notes that the city’s identity and economy are deeply tied to its historic assets, including its designation as a National Historic Landmark District and its association with the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. The history program at USCB, it said, contributes directly to the preservation, interpretation, and promotion of that heritage.
History is no abstract academic discipline in Beaufort, the city wrote, “it is central to our identify, economy and civic life.”
“Once eliminated, programs like this are difficult to restore,” the Beaufort City Council said in a letter it is planning to send to L. Jeffrey Perez, president and executive director of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. “Any short-term savings would be outweighed by long-term cultural, educational and economic costs.”
The reasoning behind the proposal
The recommendation to remove the history major was made by the CHE staff as part of a statewide program productivity review that considers enrollment and completion rates, Mallory said.
The threshold for a viable academic major is eight graduates per year, Mallory said. USCB’s current average is 7.2 graduates per year. The school has more than 2,200 students enrolled across its three campuses in Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. Removing the history major would affect students across all three campuses.
USCB staff was informed of the proposed cuts a week-and-a-half ago.
The CHE board will make the final decision but its Committee on Academic Affairs and Licensing will consider the staff recommendations first on April 30. A vote is expected.
“Some institutions have 20 programs recommended for termination,” Mallory said. “It’s not a USCB specific issue.”
CHE reviews academic programs every two years, Mallory said.
This year’s process, however, is different because the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the reviews, Mallory said. As a result, three of the regular two-year reviews have been condensed into one year, Mallory said.
USCB seeks time to improve enrollment
USCB is making the case that its history and sociology programs should be placed under review, instead of cut. That would allow faculty to implement improvement programs, Mallory said.
Placing programs under review is usually the first step but in the COVID-19-shortened review process that option is not being offered in every case, Mallory said.
Programs can be put under review for up to six years while enrollment or completion rates are improved, Mallory said.
“Public institutions across the state are making the case, instead of making recommendations for termination, the programs should be put under review,” Mallory said.
USCB’s math and English programs were originally recommended for termination, Mallory said, but have since been put under review.
The Beaufort university makes its case
On Friday, USCB submitted a packet of information to the Commission on Higher Education defending the value of its two majors still in the crosshairs.
It included letters of support from Rowland; the city of Beaufort; Elizabeth Chew, president of the South Carolina Historical Society; Walter Edgar, a USC professor of Southern Studies emeritus; seven Beaufort County museums, historic sites, and historic organizations; Frank Rodriguez, superintendent, of the Beaufort County School District; Mary Katherine Schramm, a USCB history alumna; and Rich Thomas, who is heading the Beaufort County 250 Committee.
“USCB is grateful for the overwhelming support of our history program, which plays a critical role in meeting the region’s needs,” Kimberly Dudas, USCB’s interim provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, said in a statement. “Tourism is a major economic driver and the rich history of Beaufort and surrounding Lowcountry draws visitors here.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 10:49 AM.
