Report on historical funding of South Carolina institutions of higher education

Abstract

With a few exceptions, since 1896 the state of South Carolina has provided lower levels of financial support to public institutions of higher education than other states, both regionally and nationally. While South Carolina went from spending the least to the most on higher education by the mid-1970s, it has fallen back toward the middle among southern states although it still remains above regional and national averages. Longitudinal studies such as this provide an opportunity to look for patterns in the data and historical record, and to assess the impact of decisions made many decades ago on contemporary conditions and circumstance.