Did South Carolina Sabotage Its Public Historically Black College?

Ten states, including South Carolina failed to provide more than $56 million in mandated state appropriations to historically Black institutions federally designated as 1890 Land Grant universities in 2010-12.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina -- Last week, South Carolina lawmakers proposed shutting down the state's only public historically black college for two years.

"We are looking at a bankrupt institution," state House Rep. Jim Merrill told reporters. "No one takes any pleasure in recommending this."

And indeed, the school is in rough shape. It owes millions, enrollment has plummeted over the past eight years, and only about 14 percent of its students graduate in four years.

But a group of students and alumni has filed a federal suit blaming state officials for the school's current woes. They say the state has been illegally discriminating against the black university, first by underfunding it, then by allowing well-heeled nearby colleges, like the University of South Carolina, to offer academic programs very similar to those at S.C. State. That left prospective students with little reason to pass up a tonier school with the same offerings, they say, and enrollment dried up.

In essence, they say, South Carolina State was set up to fail.


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