South Carolina State University has maintained a legacy of excellence in education. We have been home to generations of scholars and leaders in business, military service, government, athletics, education, medicine, science, engineering technology and more. Located in Orangeburg, S.C., SC State was founded as a land grant college with a mission of providing education and service to the citizens of the state. In its first century, SC State was a leader in education and continues to lead the way into the next century.
History of SC State University
Founded in 1896 as the state's sole public college for black youth, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY has played a key role in the education of African-Americans in the state and nation. As a land-grant institution, it struggled to provide agricultural and mechanical training to generations of black youngsters. Through its extension program, it sent farm and home demonstration agents into rural counties to provide knowledge and information to impoverished black farm families.
The University has educated scores of teachers for the public schools. It provided education in sciences, literature, and history. The support of the Rosenwald Fund and the General Education Board helped the institution survive the Depression. After World War II, the state legislature created a graduate program and a law school at SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY to prevent black students from enrolling in the University of South Carolina's graduate and legal education programs. The legislature also dramatically increased funding at the college in an effort to make "separate but equal" a reality in higher education in South Carolina. During the 1950s and 1960s hundreds of S.C. STATE students participated in local civil rights demonstrations and were arrested. In 1968 three young men were slain and 27 wounded on the campus by state highway patrolmen in the Orangeburg Massacre.
Since 1966, S.C. STATE has been open to white students and faculty, but it has largely retained its mission and character as an historically black institution. In 1971, the agricultural program was terminated and the college farm was transformed into a community recreation center consisting of a golf course as well as soccer and baseball fields. Today there are nearly 5000 students majoring in a wide range of programs that include agribusiness, accounting, art, English, and drama as well as fashion merchandising, physics, psychology, and political science.
South Carolina State University (SC State) is a historically Black public 1890 land-grant senior comprehensive institution of approximately 4,500-6,000 students. Located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, SC State University is committed to providing affordable and accessible quality baccalaureate programs in the areas of business, applied professional sciences, mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, engineering technology, education, arts, and humanities. A number of programs are offered at the master’s level in teaching, human services and agribusiness, and the educational specialist and doctorate programs are offered in educational administration.
SC State University prepares highly skilled, competent and socially aware graduates to enable them to work and live productively in a dynamic, global society. Through technology and traditional methods of teaching and learning, research and service, the University enhances the quality of life of citizens and contributes to the economic development of the state and nation.
(This mission statement was approved by the S.C. State University Board of Trustees on March 30, 2010 and by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education May 6, 2010.)