As the majority of us college students know, the University of South Carolina’s tuition and fees continues to increase each year. The state simply can’t afford to support us more than the 10% they are at the present time. Unfortunately this caused USC to have a 6.9% increase in tuition and fees this year; something that a lot of students and parents were none too pleased about. In fact, the University of South Carolina’s tuition is double that of surrounding states Georgia and North Carolina. But what many students and parent don’t understand is that annual giving impacts their educational experience a lot more than they think.
Annual giving raised $118 million last year from alumni and friends of the University. In fact, alumni giving surpasses the amount of money funded to us by the state, which should speak volumes to our students, alumni and parents at the University. When asked about the University being put in a terrible position by the state, the Director of Development of Annual Giving, Lola Mauer, stated that we are “depending less and less on state funds. And alumni, perhaps more than ever before, are having a direct impact on students. We as individuals have to step up to make a difference.” Annual giving is taking on the responsibility of getting the word out to alumni, parents and friends. They have a direct mail, online and family fund campaign. Something that students, especially seniors, should know about is the Senior Class Gift campaign which urges seniors to donate and provide a small gift that goes back to student resources- Ms. Mauer stresses that this provides a huge difference to students.
Recently, the Office of Development and Alumni Relations partnered with USC Productions and students at the University to bring awareness to the devastating budget cuts USC is facing. The video is aimed to educate alumni and friends about the effects that the budget is having on our student programs, scholarships and financial aid resources. What many students don’t seem to understand is that your tuition and fees don’t cover the total amount that it costs to be a student at USC. Tuition and fees covers about 40% and the state is allotting us about 10% so what is covering the rest? That is where annual giving steps in. They fundraise for the University to supply resources for programs, scholarships and financial aid. The video was designed to educate alumni about the “ugly facts” of the effects the state budget cut has had on USC. The video was e-mailed out to alumni and they got a lot of feedback. Many people did not know the of the dire situation of our programs and resources at USC. And when I asked several students if they knew about annual giving and its impact on their tuition, many had no idea that they were able to raise that much money for our student resources. Katie, a senior Sociology student, said “Annual giving is what alumni give back to after they graduate, that has nothing to do with my resources as a student.I asked Ms. Mauer what she thought about the tuition increase and if she thinks this is just the beginning of more high costs for students and she says, “We cant get that $102 million that we’ve lost back, we are estimated to have another $20-25 million cut next year. We have to work smarter as a University, as a major research institution we must continue to grow.” Ms. Mauer also stresses the importance of getting the word out to students, “we can’t just dump the responsibility on the students and the parents. We have to improve our ability to fundraise and establish scholarship money, professorships and guaranteed resources for students.”
And it isn’t about getting the high dollar pledges to the University either, the majority of donations made last year were from $250 or less gifts. “Simply a gift of $35 impacts the University as a whole because we could accomplish and provide a lot for the University if everyone gave a $35 gift,” Ms. Mauer said.
While the situation seems desperate for USC students, alumni giving is increasing every year. The number of first time and young alumni donors continues to rise year after year and USC is even in the Top 20 in alumni giving, according to U.S. News and World Report. So while the University and students are nervous about the looming tuition costs exceeding, annual giving is continuing to make a difference for students. They continue to instill the legacy and the need to alumni and friends, and they have provided for the University when the state could not. To view the annual giving video visit www.sc.edu/annualgiving.
