The University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB or USC Beaufort) is a public university with three campuses located in the
Lowcountry
The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an import ...
region of
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. It is part of the
University of South Carolina System
The University of South Carolina System is a state university system collection of campuses established in 1957 to expand the educational opportunities of the citizens of South Carolina as well as extend the reach of the University of South Caro ...
and enrolls about 1,900 students. The main campus is in
Bluffton, South Carolina
Bluffton is a town in southern Beaufort County, South Carolina, Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census was 27,716, an increase of over 120% since 2010, making it one of the fa ...
. The campus offers over 20 programs of study. The institution's campus in
Beaufort Beaufort may refer to:
People and titles
* Beaufort (surname)
* House of Beaufort, English nobility
* Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England
* Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility
Places Polar regions ...
houses the school's honor programs and the Department of Visual Arts & Design. The campus location on
Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of C ...
is home to the school's program for hospitality management.
History
In 1795, a preparatory school and college in Beaufort was chartered as the Beaufort College to serve the families of local residents. Classes began in 1802, and the college reached a prominent status in the community during the antebellum period. The college was forced to close in 1861 at the beginning of the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and the Beaufort College building, constructed in 1852, was occupied by the
Union forces for use as a hospital.
The college building was used by the
Freedmen's Bureau
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...
during
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
, and it was an elementary school from 1909 to 1959. In the 1950s, two factors brought about the return of higher education to the Beaufort region. The
University of South Carolina sought to expand its reach throughout the state by the establishment of extension campuses and the Beaufort County Higher Education Commission was formed by citizens of Beaufort to bring a campus to the area. A branch campus of the University of South Carolina was established in 1959 at the site of the old Beaufort College, but the official opening was delayed by
Hurricane Gracie
Hurricane Gracie was a major hurricane that formed in September 1959, the strongest during the 1959 Atlantic hurricane season and the most intense to strike the United States since Hurricane Hazel in 1954. National Hurricane CenterPreliminary Re ...
.
The campus experienced steady growth through the years, and it expanded south along Carteret Street. In 2002, the campus was upgraded from a regional campus to a senior campus offering bachelor's degrees. USCB opened a second, campus with housing in Bluffton. In 2004, it also began offering programs for the United States Marine Corps on
Parris Island, South Carolina
Parris Island is a district of the city of Port Royal, South Carolina on an island of the same name. It became part of the city with the annexation of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on October 11, 2002. For statistical purposes, the ...
. In 2018, the institution opened its third campus, located on Hilton Head Island, to house the program for hospitality management.
Academics
USCB is one of the three senior campuses in the University of South Carolina system and is a
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...
accredited four-year university. It offers the bachelor's degree in human services online through
Palmetto College Palmetto College is the online bachelor's completion program of the University of South Carolina System. The college is made up of the four two-year degree-granting institutions of the USC system: USC Lancaster, USC Salkehatchie, USC Sumter and USC ...
.
USCB offers the region's only human services degree as well as more traditional degrees like
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, psychology, business, and education. The school opened a nursing facility in Spring 2009. Human simulators provide nursing students hands-on training opportunities. Another popular program capitalizing on nearby Hilton Head Island resorts is the hospitality management program, which draws international students and provides internships. The biology program allows students to explore and study first-hand the continental-shelf and
estuarine
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
environment with a concentration in coastal ecology and conservation.
Student life
The university has 1,875 undergraduate students. The gender makeup of the student body is 66 percent female and 33 percent male.
The racial makeup of the student body is 72 percent white, 10 percent African-American, and 18 percent other.
[
]
Student organizations
USCB offers numerous student organizations, including several special interest clubs, religious groups, honor societies, and academic clubs. The campuses largest organization Student Government Association, consisting of twelve student senators, a vice president, President, and an executive board.
Greek life
USCB recognizes five chapters of national fraternities and sororities. The sole fraternity on campus is Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...
. Sororities include Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...
, Zeta Phi Beta
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achie ...
, Phi Mu
Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States.
The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same ye ...
, and Zeta Tau Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its Internatio ...
. Fraternities and sororities are housed within the residential dorms.
Athletics
The South Carolina–Beaufort (USC Beaufort or USCB) athletic teams are called the Sand Sharks. The university is a member of both the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...
(NAIA) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) at the Division II ranks, primarily competing in the NCAA's Peach Belt Conference
The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 11 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Carolina ...
(PBC) and the NAIA's Continental Athletic Conference
NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations. NAIA schools that are not members of any other athletic conference are ...
, formerly known as the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), for the 2022–23 school year only (which they were a member on a previous stint during the 2007–08 school year, which when the school began its athletics program and joined the NAIA). The Sand Sharks previously competed in the Sun Conference
The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Seven of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with three in Georgia. The Sun Conference c ...
, formerly known as the Florida Sun Conference (FSC), from 2008–09 to 2021–22.
USC Beaufort competes in 11 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, cross country, golf and track & field (indoor and outdoor); while women's sports include cross country, golf, soccer, softball and track & field (indoor and outdoor).
Facilities
Both the Sand Sharks baseball and softball teams practice and play home games at the City of Hardeeville's Recreation Complex (The Richard Gray Baseball Complex).
Move to NCAA Division II
On April 14, 2021, the university's athletic department announced its intention to pursue an NCAA Division II and join the Peach Belt Conference
The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The 11 member institutions are located in the South Atlantic states of South Carolina ...
(PBC) in that division starting in the fall of 2022. Men's and women's basketball will be added to the scholarship sports as a condition of its NCAA and Peach Belt memberships, and USC Beaufort intended for the teams in that sport to start their first season in 2023–24. By July 15, 2022, USCB was already accepted into the Continental Athletic Conference for its first year of provisional membership while still playing a Peach Belt schedule as part of the Sand Sharks' NAIA-NCAA dual membership, but will be ineligible for a Peach Belt or NCAA postseason during the three-year transition.
Housing
Palmetto Village
Palmetto Village is located on USCB's Bluffton campus. The school offers apartment style housing, with each dorm consisting of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen and dining area. There are ten dorms on campus, including five freshmen dorms.
Notable alumni
* William Elliot, American attorney and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives
* Shannon Erickson, current member of South Carolina House of Representatives
* Robert Rhett
Robert Barnwell Rhett (born Robert Barnwell Smith; December 21, 1800September 14, 1876) was an American politician who served as a deputy from South Carolina to the Provisional Confederate States Congress from 1861 to 1862, a member of the US H ...
, former U.S. Senator
* Robert Woodward Barnwell
Robert Woodward Barnwell (August 10, 1801 – November 5, 1882) was an American slave owner, planter, lawyer, and educator from South Carolina who served as a Senator in both the United States Senate and that of the Confederate States of Amer ...
, former U.S. Senator
References
External links
*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Carolina, University of, Beaufort
University of South Carolina Beaufort
The University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB or USC Beaufort) is a public university with three campuses located in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. It is part of the University of South Carolina System and enrolls about 1,900 student ...
Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Education in Beaufort County, South Carolina
Buildings and structures in Beaufort County, South Carolina
Buildings and structures in Beaufort, South Carolina
Educational institutions established in 1959
1959 establishments in South Carolina