University of South Carolina trustees approved a 2025-26 fiscal year budget Friday (June 20) that holds tuition flat for South Carolina students systemwide while enhancing teaching, research and the overall student experience.
USC received historic support from state leaders this year, with state funding for a new neurological hospital and rehabilitation center at the BullStreet district, tuition mitigation to keep the cost of attendance affordable, and strategic investments in energy innovation and health science research.
Under the budget approved Friday, academic units across the Columbia campus will receive additional funds to support the hiring of additional faculty and provide greater academic support for students.
“The General Assembly has demonstrated its robust support for higher education in this year’s state budget,” USC President Michael Amiridis said. “With support for key educational, research and health sciences initiatives, this funding will open doors for more students seeking to earn a college degree and prepare them for our state’s workforce needs. It will also empower USC to deliver the scientific inquiry and discoveries that are improving the lives of South Carolina citizens.”
Board of Trustees Chairman Thad Westbrook also emphasized how the budget aligns the university's priorities with the needs of the state.
“This budget makes clear that as an institution we are focused on priorities that improve the lives of our students while contributing to the health and wellbeing of all South Carolina residents through service, research and innovation,” Westbrook said.
Additional budget details include:
- Thanks to tuition mitigation funds from the state and strong student enrollment and retention, tuition for South Carolina residents will remain the same for the seventh year in a row (the eighth year for our comprehensive institutions). Nonresident student tuition will increase by 3 percent. On the Columbia campus, undergraduate tuition will remain $6,344 per semester for resident students while tuition for non-resident students in Columbia will total $18,694 per semester.
- To keep pace with inflationary costs in housing operations and food, the budget includes a $233 increase in housing (average) and a $96 increase in meal plans for the fall 2025 semester. This represents the smallest increase for these fees in five years. Housing and food services are auxiliary services that do not receive state funding for operations.
- The approved budget also includes a new annual $300 athletics auxiliary fee designed to continue student access to athletics events/ticket lottery, address increased event/program operating costs, and enhance the student experience across multiple USC sporting venues. Enhancements will include student centered in game activity and promotions, facility upgrades and additional support for health/safety staffing at athletics events.
The athletics fee approved Friday will not be used for recently approved Williams-Brice stadium renovations, Name Image and Likeness or coaching contracts.
Other schools in the Southeastern Conference, including the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, and the University of Tennessee also have designated athletics student fees, and Clemson University implemented a similar fee in 2024.
“Access to world-class athletic events is one of the many reasons students are attracted to USC. In order to stay competitive in an evolving collegiate landscape, we have to create environments where students can have a great fan experience while cheering on the Gamecocks,” said USC Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati.
USC to offer free AI tool to all students, faculty and staff
USC is embracing the power and potential of artificial intelligence by offering free AI tools to all students, faculty and staff beginning this fall.
Through a $1.5 million partnership with OpenAI, USC’s Columbia campus will become the first in the state to offer free enterprise access to ChatGPT, the world’s leading AI tool for automation and content generation.
For students, appropriate use of AI can improve academic outcomes by providing personalized study aids, learning tools and time management assistance. Understanding how to effectively and ethically use AI tools also will give them a competitive advantage in today’s workforce, which is rapidly adopting AI usage across nearly every industry.
Faculty and staff can use ChatGPT to reduce administrative burden and gain efficiencies in developing lesson plans, grading, analyzing data, research tasks, and much more. Importantly, USC’s adoption of an enterprise AI system will allow for much greater security of data and information generated by the campus community.
“The campuswide adoption of secure enterprise AI technology puts USC on the leading edge of higher education institutions,” said Brice Bible, USC’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer. “This initiative will not only make our students more employable, but it will allow for much greater innovation in the classroom and across research teams in every discipline.”
Additional information on the AI initiative and how the campus community can utilize tools will be shared this summer. USC system campuses will have the option to adopt the technology through the partnership approved Friday.
The Board also approved Friday a new interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate program in Artificial Intelligence Literacy. The certificate — which will be offered this fall — will consist of two required courses about the capabilities and ethical use of AI and two elective courses relating AI to students’ majors. This is the fifth certificate program offered by USC for all students and designed to arm them with practical, in-demand skills. Previous offerings include Project Leadership and Management, Digital Studies, Data Analyses, and Strategic Communication.