Business Climate
Higher Education and Research
Higher education opportunities are convenient and include three internationally recognized university research institutions and one of America’s 12 national laboratories. More than 210,000 students are enrolled in one of the state's 33 public institutions or 20 private schools.
At the University of South Carolina, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Moore School of Business’s graduate program in international business first in the nation among public universities and second overall. It has been ranked first or second overall for 17 consecutive years. USC has also earned the Carnegie Foundation’s top research designation, one granted to only 62 public and 32 private institutions.
USC’s Innovista research campus has been designed to integrate public and private sector research in a vibrant, urban setting. Innovista is focusing on four areas: future fuels, biomedical, nanotechnology and environmental sciences. USC hosts the National Science Foundation’s first Center for Fuel Cells, established in 2003 to help industry advance the technology and commercialization of fuel cells.
Clemson University’s ICAR (International Center for Automotive Research) is an advanced technology research campus housing automotive, motorsports and transportation research along with graduate automotive engineering programs. Its new super-powerful computer ranks in the top 150 to 200 research-oriented systems worldwide and was purchased in partnership with Sun Microsystems to become the heart of Clemson’s Computational Center for Mobility Systems.
Clemson University was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as 30th among all public national universities in 2007. The magazine ranked Clemson's Department of Environmental Engineering and Science 20th (2007) in the nation and 12th (2007) among public universities for programs of its kind. Clemson is one of the top-50 regional and top-100 national institutions for entrepreneurs according to Entrepreneur magazine (2004).
Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is the oldest medical school in the South, and has developed nationally ranked research centers for cancer, marine biomedicine and proteomics (protein study), a pharmaceutical clinical testing and development center plus a 600-bed medical center.
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is one of 12 national laboratories performing research. The SRNL serves South Carolina and the nation in three major programs: National and Homeland Security, Energy Security and Environmental and Chemical Process Technology.
The Citadel houses the nation’s largest military college program outside the service academies. U.S. News & World Report places The Citadel as number two in public colleges granting master's degrees in the South and ranks its engineering school among the top 50 undergraduate engineering programs in the nation. About one third of graduating cadets are commissioned into military service following graduation.
South Carolina has two Governor’s Schools, one based on the arts and one focused on science and math. The South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities serves artistically gifted high school students in the state through programs of pre-professional instruction in an environment of artistic and academic excellence. Likewise, the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics gives academically advanced juniors and seniors from across the state the opportunity to explore their interests, discover their world, and grow socially as well as academically. Students learn to think creatively, develop their own ideas, and express themselves in and out of the classroom.
The South Carolina Technical College System is comprised of 16 community-based technical colleges throughout the state and the innovative readySC™ program. Technical colleges offer degree, diploma, certificate and continuing education programs in more than 130 areas. They serve close to 240,000 students--nearly one in 14 South Carolinians over the age of 18, most are state residents who remain in the state to work. South Carolina's technical colleges excel at creating and implementing “demand driven” programs designed to meet the needs of specific businesses and industries, while also providing opportunities to build and expand general skill sets that help enhance overall workforce readiness.