The University of South Carolina Aiken is a comprehensive institution that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and professional disciplines. All programs of study are grounded in a strong liberal arts and sciences curriculum.
Its commitment to transformative teaching distinguishes USC Aiken through high impact learning practices, undergraduate research, small classes, and individual attention. The University encourages excellence in research and creative pursuits. It prepares students for success by challenging them to think critically and creatively, to communicate effectively, to learn independently, and to acquire breadth and depth of interdisciplinary knowledge.
USC Aiken attracts students from South Carolina, the United States, and the world to form a diverse community of individuals engaged in educational experiences and services necessary to pursue meaningful work in an enlightened, inclusive, and economically vibrant society. A progressive hub for innovation, collaboration, and creativity, USC Aiken contributes to the community by enriching the region's quality of life through various activities, including the visual and performing arts, intercollegiate athletics, continuing and distance education, educational outreach, and leadership.
Approximately 90% of our students receive some financial aid - including state, federal, institutional, and outside awards. We encourage you to consider and pursue all of the financial assistance opportunities that are available to you.
There are many different ways to get involved at USC Aiken. Students can come to Get on Board Days, held each semester, to determine what student organizations have to offer. Also, the Pacer Times and the Stall Wall Weekly publications publish information about when meetings and events are held. Posters are placed throughout campus announcing upcoming programs. You can go to any open club meeting or stop by the Student Life Office and talk to one of our helpful staff members.
USC Aiken welcomes students from all over the world. Currently, there are more than 25 countries represented at USC Aiken. This enriches our campus by adding unique social, personal, and academic experiences for all of our students.
Building partnerships has been the cornerstone of the University of South Carolina Aiken since its inception in 1961. It was then that the Aiken community citizens voiced the need for a local institution of higher education. In a real demonstration of grassroots politics, the community rallied to show their support for a college founded in the area.
A governing board was formed through state legislation, the Aiken County Commission for Higher Education, which continues to oversee the University's mission. The University of South Carolina, the state's flagship university founded in Columbia in 1801, began offering courses in Aiken for students interested in completing their degrees in Columbia. USC Aiken became the fourth campus founded of the eight that would eventually comprise the USC System. Three full-time faculty members, a secretary, and 139 students joined for the University's first academic semester in September 1961.
Classes took place in "Banksia", a former winter-colony mansion in downtown Aiken. For 11 years, the University's first students attended college in a structure developed as living quarters, studying composition in an area that was once a ballroom and algebra in a former sitting room.
Over the years, the student population grew, and the need for a new physical location for campus arose. The University purchased the Graniteville Company's property and moved from Banksia to its present site in 1972. One multipurpose building was constructed, which was later named the Robert E. Penland Administration Building. This building's open courtyard features one of the campus' most notable landmarks, the Double Knot sculpture by artist Charles Perry, which symbolizes the University's close ties with the local community. At the time, most assumed that this would be the only building ever needed for the campus; however, the University grew to occupy more than 20 buildings and athletics facilities in the years that followed.
The institution began forming a limited number of sports teams as part of the NAIA in the 1960s. USC Aiken student-athletes adopted the Pacers as their mascot, named Aiken's well-known status as an equestrian community. In 1990, USC Aiken achieved NCAA Division II status and became a charter member of the highly-competitive Peach Belt Conference. Today, Pacer Athletics hosts 11 varsity men's and women's sports teams, including the three-time national champion men's golf team.
Today, USC Aiken has ranked in the top three public baccalaureate colleges in the South by U.S. News & World Report's guide "Best Colleges" for twenty-one consecutive years. More than 3,500 students attend the University, and approximately 500 students graduate each year. USC Aiken provides bachelor's and master's degrees in 50 programs of study while delivering many of a large university's offerings on a small, friendly campus with intimate class sizes and personal attention. The commitment to continuing partnerships is woven into the fabric of the campus' culture.
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