A spring 2008 survey of 3,336 graduating seniors in Spartanburg County identified funding as being the biggest hurdle in their decisions to go to college (27.2%), followed by being accepted to college (23.1%) and deciding what college to attend (22.7%).

Tuition and fees for academic year 2006-2007 for Spartanburg County colleges and universities ranged widely:

However, many students receive some form of financial aid, whether in federal grants, state grants, institutional grants or other grants. In academic year 2005-2006, the following percentages of students received federal, state and local financial aid:

The average amount of federal grant by institution varied in 2005-2006 from $1,738 at Spartanburg Methodist College to $3,647 at Converse College. The average amount of state and local grant by institution varied from $1,950 at Spartanburg Community College to $6,900 at Wofford College.

In academic year 2005-2006, significant percentages of students received institutional grants or loans to meet academic expenses, as indicated in Figure 10.

For a number of years, S.C. has been investing in several merit-based student financial aid programs in an effort to encourage more S.C. students who have performed well in high school to enroll in and graduate from the state’s colleges and universities. From 2002-2007, $750 million in awards have been provided through the Palmetto Fellows Scholarships and the LIFE Scholarships. In fiscal year 2006-2007, 4,846 Palmetto Fellows Scholarships totaling $31.4 million were awarded. In the same year, 29,838 LIFE Scholarships totaling $134.3 million were awarded.

 In fall 2006, there were 1,839 college and university students from Spartanburg County receiving LIFE Scholarships. First time freshman accounted for 751 of these scholarships and 1,088 returning students accounted for the balance. Of these students, 1,567 graduated from public high schools in Spartanburg County.

A persistent issue of significant impact on student retention, especially freshman to sophomore retention, is loss of the LIFE Scholarship. A student must earn a minimum cumulative 3.0 grade point average by the end of each academic year in order to retain eligibility for the scholarship; however, only 43% of LIFE recipients earn a 3.0 at the end of their freshman year (CHE, 2005). For Spartanburg colleges and universities, retention rates for LIFE Scholarship recipients at the same institution after the freshman year follows in Table 12.

Clearly, the most precipitous drop in retention of the LIFE Scholarship occurs after the freshman year. The Commission on Higher Education has considered reducing the grade point eligibility criteria to 2.75 at the end of the freshman year and increasing it again to 3.0 at the end of the sophomore and junior years in order to allow for student adjustment to the social and academic rigors of college; however, the lack of a uniform grading scale for S.C. colleges and universities has been a barrier to this change.

The fact that significantly more Spartanburg County high school seniors intend to enroll in four-year and two-year college than actually do, and significantly more seniors enroll in community / technical college than had planned to, may be explained by the financial concerns reported by high school seniors and the lower costs at Spartanburg Community College.

In 2005-2006, S.C. ranked 33rd among states for enrollment of low-income students in college. This equates to approximately 21.1% of low-income students. The trend of increased enrollment of low-income S.C. residents in college has evidenced a slow but steady increase since1992-1993.

It should be noted that many non-profit groups and agencies in Spartanburg County have recognized the need to assist students in achieving college degrees. Of these, the Spartanburg County Foundation has been most persistent. Since 1946, it has committed $2.4 million to over 1,000 county residents attending county colleges. In addition to the Foundation’s own initiatives, many families have established scholarship funds through the Foundation to support students in the community. In 2007, one out of every four county residents attending colleges received a scholarship through the Spartanburg County Foundation.