The University of South Carolina Sumter (USC Sumter) is a

public college A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

in Sumter, South Carolina. It is part of the University of South Carolina System and one of the four regional USC campuses which make up Palmetto College. It only awards associate degrees and has approximately 1,500 students. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. USC Sumter has 2 available nursing programs through fellow USC schools (USC Aiken and USC Upstate)

History

In 1965 the Sumter County Commission on Higher Education, desiring to fulfill its purpose of starting or bringing a public college to Sumter, entered into an agreement with

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

to establish an academic branch of Clemson in Sumter at the old Sumter Airport site on Miller Road. This was Clemson's first such branch. The original campus consisted of four buildings and was designed to accommodate 550 students. The initial enrollment of 97 had grown to only 245 by 1973. In 1973, upset by this poor growth rate, the Commission successfully negotiated with Clemson and USC to terminate the Sumter branch's relationship with Clemson and to become a branch of the USC System.University of South Carolina Sumter History
/ref> USC Sumter now has an enrollment of more than a thousand. USC Sumter confers two-year associate degrees and also offers baccalaureate degree programs in business administration, elementary education, nursing, early childhood education and interdisciplinary studies.

Colleges and schools

*College of Arts and Sciences *School of

Nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

*School of Business Administration *School of Education *School of Interdisciplinary Studies

Athletics

The University of South Carolina Sumter announced on Monday, October 30, 2006 the return of intercollegiate athletics to the campus. Competitive sports had not been on campus since the 1970s, when the mascot was The Partisans and the school colors were purple and white. University of South Carolina Sumter now sponsors four collegiate teams known as the Fire Ants. The athletic department colors are garnet and white, while the university's colors are garnet, black, and white. The teams compete in Region X of Division I in the

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

. These sports are men's

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, women's

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

and men's and women's tennis. The USC Sumter Fire Ants began playing in the 2007-2008 academic year with baseball and

. The college plans to add more sports as the support grows for its teams. The baseball team plays at Riley Park, three miles east of campus. The softball team plays at Palmetto Park, a half mile northwest of campus.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Carolina, University of, Sumter Sumter, South Carolina University of South Carolina Sumter University of South Carolina System Education in Sumter County, South Carolina Buildings and structures in Sumter County, South Carolina