The University of South Carolina is attracting great minds from around the world. With their drive and the University's renowned student support of their progress, it's a combination that produces brilliance in many forms.

South Carolina's undergraduate student population—a diverse group made up of students from around the United States and nearly 100 other nations—has won $11.4 million in prestigious national scholarships and fellowships since 1994.

In fact, the University was tied for 15th among national comprehensive universities—and tied for seventh among public universities—for the number of Goldwater and Truman scholarships won in 2007. It also was in the top 20 among national comprehensive public universities for Goldwater Scholarships.

In the 2007-08 academic year, South Carolina students have won 31 national awards worth more than $1.3 million for advanced academic study. Among the winners were six Fullbright Fellows, a Truman Scholar finalist, two Goldwater Scholars and one honorable mention.

The University's freshman class has consistently raised its average SAT score this millennium. Freshmen in fall 2007 averaged 1185, capping a six-year string of consecutive increases that pushed up the score nearly 80 points.

Our scholars are also putting up big SAT numbers (freshman averages, fall 2007):

• 1478 for McNair Scholars, the top out-of-state scholarship award
• 1431 for Alumni Scholars, a mix of in- and out-of-state students
• 1428 for Carolina Scholars, the top in-state scholarship award
• 1403 for the 320 South Carolina Honors College students
• 1299 for Capstone Scholars, a program that creates living-learning communities for high-achieving students during their first two years
• See South Carolina's SAT scores.

Great First Year ... and Second

South Carolina has long been a national leader in assisting with students' transition to campus and is, in fact, home to the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

Our pioneering University 101 program helps students adjust to campus life and has consistently been recognized by U.S. News & World Reports as a "Program to Look For"—and was ranked No. 1 in a previous category, "Programs That Work."

Dan Friedman will lead the program beginning in June 2008, succeeding long-time director Dan Berman. “It is an honor to be able to work with the most prestigious and well-respected first-year program in the country,” Friedman says.

Like the Capstone Scholars' two-year program, the Sophomore Initiative expands academic and support services to all second-year students.

"With sophomores we need to address more complex career planning issues and ask them some of the tough questions—‘you've been here two years; what's your game plan?’ " says Jimmie Gahagan, assistant vice provost for student engagement.

Great Scholars

When it comes to great game plans, it's hard to beat the McNair Scholars Program. Established in 1998 through a $20 million gift by alumnus Robert McNair, the program recruits top students from outside South Carolina.

The McNair Scholars—81 currently enrolled students and 94 alumni—represent 31 majors and 18 states. Among their many awards: two Truman scholarships, a James Madison fellowship, three Goldwater scholarships, three Fulbright scholarships, three National Science Foundation fellowships, and one Rhodes scholarship finalist.

Through the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs, South Carolina students have won such prestigious scholarships and fellowships as the Rhodes, Madison, Truman, Goldwater, and Fulbright, as well as selections to USA Today's All-Academic Teams. The office also administers the McNair Scholar Program and its in-state counterpart, the Carolina Scholars Program.

McNair—founder of Cogen Technologies and the owner of the NFL's Houston Texans—and his wife, Janice, recently added $10 million to their original $20 million gift. (Details)

“We take pride in investing where the impact is more long term ... investing in intellectual capital (such as) scholarships for students," McNair says.

Great Outreach

Just as the McNairs give back, the University is working to improve the community and the lives of its citizens through myriad programs. To name just a few:

• The Waverly Community After-School Program is a student-led initiative that provides mentoring and tutoring for children in a low-income neighborhood near campus.
• Cocky's Reading Express, another student-run project, sends student leaders and our mascot, Cocky, to elementary schools around the state to read to school children and promote literacy.
• The Carolina Master Scholars Program provides opportunities for high-achieving middle and high school students to experience college life and courses taught by University faculty.

Great Faculty and Researchers

And speaking of faculty, the University is also continuing an unprecedented hiring program to keep pace with the influx of student talent. The recently completed Centenary Plan recruited 100 top research faculty, while the ongoing Faculty Excellence Initiative is focusing on 250 additional hires, many of whom will work in interdisciplinary clusters.

South Carolina is also bringing dynamic research experts to direct or fill endowed chairs for a variety of Research Centers of Economic Excellence. The centers range from tourism research to cancer therapies and from hydrogen fuel cells to nanotechnoloy. Each is expected to boost the state's economy by producing a combination of news jobs, technologies, products, and services.

Two high-profile recruits are Kenneth Reifsnider, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the director of the University's Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Center, and Brian Benicewicz, endowed chair for Polymer Nanocomposite Research.

Great Innovation

Many of South Carolina's top researchers will soon be working—and perhaps living—in Innovista, the University's new 500-acre, $250 million research innovation district. Innovista is creating a mixture of world-class research facilities, restaurants, residences, retail space, and recreational opportunities, fostering an environment that inspires the mind as well as the soul.

Innovista will only add to research opportunities for students, building on strong graduate programs and a thriving undergraduate research system and scholarship program, the Magellan Scholars.

Great Minds

At the University of South Carolina, we're recruiting some of best students in the world, supporting their success stories in top national scholarship and fellowship competitions, providing a strong network of programs to ensure all students' academic achievement, and creating exciting learning environments with top faculty in the classroom and the laboratory.

In that environment, great minds are challenged, invigorated, inspired—and they grow.