(Published October 1‚ 2003)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Gov. Mark Sanford wants major changes in the state's college system and says fewer schools would promote efficiency.

On Tuesday, Sanford tried to block Coastal Carolina's plans to open a Pawleys Island satellite campus and also called for the University of South Carolina to use inmate labor for projects.

"We do have to look at doing different things than we've done in the past," Sanford said after the state Budget and Control Board met Tuesday.

Sanford said he wants "dramatic changes" to the state's sprawling college and university systems next year. He plans to release his higher education proposal "soon," as part of his budget and his legislative agenda for next year. In the past, Sanford has called for creating a college regents system to more effectively handle spending decisions at 33 campuses.

The Republican governor's vote against Coastal Carolina's satellite campus plan drew criticism from state Sen. Phil Leventis. Small towns campuses, such as two-year USC-Sumter, offer an opportunity to everyone, including people who cannot drive to Clemson or Columbia's University of South Carolina, Leventis, a Sumter Democrat, said.

"What the governor has basically said is that we'd all be better off if we had fewer educated people," Leventis said. "He doesn't think he said that, but dang it, that's exactly what he said."

Sanford and others have questioned whether the state is spending higher education dollars wisely, including why the state pays for adjacent campuses at USC-Sumter and Central Carolina Technical College.

Sanford did not say he would close campuses, but he did not rule it out either. The state's tight budget, down 20 percent in three years at $5 billion, is one reason to look at scaling back schools, he said.

In that vein, Sanford helped block $200,000 in repairs at the USC president's mansion in Columbia. He said the university could use inmate labor and save money on a $2 million project involving water and steam line repairs behind the mansion.

University spokesman Russ McKinney said the project would continue, but USC would have to find another funding source. The university used inmate labor in the past, but that didn't work on a busy campus. The university said it did not plan to use inmates near students.

Sanford says he uses inmate labor at the Gov.'s Mansion where his four young sons live and play. "They're much more vulnerable than a 20-year-old student," he said. "If it's good enough for the Gov.'s Mansion, it's probably good enough for USC."

Information from: The State