Lottery scholarships keeping students in South Carolina

Associated Press
Published February 20, 2006

COLUMBIA -- Lottery-funded scholarships are persuading many of the state's brightest students to stay in South Carolina for school.

University officials credit the scholarship program with slowing the Palmetto State's exodus of talent.

Nearly half of South Carolina students with SAT scores above 1390 plan to attend a college in the state, compared to just 16 percent five years ago, according to data from The College Board, which administers the college entrance exam.

"We are getting a huge proportion of those students staying in South Carolina today," said Andrew Sorensen, president of the University of South Carolina. "If we didn't have this scholarship program, that might be a very different story. I don't think the value of this program can be overstated."

Numbers double

Participation in the LIFE, HOPE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships, which can be used only at in-state schools, has doubled in five years.

Last fall, 72,241 students in South Carolina received some form of lottery-funded assistance.

Richland Northeast High School graduate Drew Yoos said he chose Furman University in Greenville over his father's alma mater, the University of North Carolina, after earning the $6,700 Palmetto Fellows Scholarship. Students must score at least 1200 on the SAT and earn at least a 3.5 grade point average to qualify for the four-year, lottery-funded scholarship.

"Because the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship was available, right off the bat I started looking at in-state schools," said Yoos, a freshman at Furman.

The scholarships also lure some students back to the Palmetto State.

Transferring back

USC student Erin Curtis didn't qualify for the $5,000-a-year LIFE scholarship when she graduated from Lexington High School, so she spent her freshman year at King College in Bristol, Tenn.

Her grades there allowed her to transfer to USC with the scholarship, which requires at least a 3.0 grade point average.

"That has been the key to my academic career," Curtis said.

Clemson and USC enroll the most LIFE scholarship recipients, with 1,403 going to Clemson and 1,051 to USC.

The scholarships remain popular in the General Assembly, despite their escalating cost. They are expected to cost $201.6 million next year, up from $70.5 million in 2002, when the lottery started.

Sorensen said the scholarships will help improve South Carolina's economy.

"As we move from the heavy manufacturing, agriculture, and textile mill economy to the knowledge-revolution-driven industries, graduates of these programs are going to make a difference in this state," he said. "We need these kids to transform the economy of this state."