An estimated 153 York County students a year and 40 in Lancaster County will become eligible for a college scholarship worth up to $10,000 annually under a statewide expansion of the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund announced this month.
The scholarship, available since 2021 to students in 14 South Carolina counties through private donations, will now reach graduating seniors in all 46 counties. The change is funded by a $18.7 million recurring state investment approved by the General Assembly and included in Gov. Henry McMaster’s executive budget.
For local families, the money is aimed squarely at the gap that remains after every other award is applied. South Carolina students who earn the LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship and qualify for a Federal Pell Grant still owe an average of $7,870 a year for tuition, housing, meals and fees, according to the scholarship fund. The Meeting Street Scholarship is designed to cover that remaining balance.
“This is a transformational moment for South Carolina students statewide who will now have the opportunity to earn a college degree without worrying about cost,” said Ben Navarro, founder of the Meeting Street Scholarship.
What it means locally
The fund estimates the expansion will send about $1.2 million a year to students graduating from York County’s eight public high schools and about $320,000 a year to students from Lancaster County’s four public high schools. Neighboring Chester County is projected at 23 recipients and $184,000 annually across three public high schools. Students from private schools and home schools in all 46 counties are also eligible, with 151 recipients projected statewide.
Statewide, nearly 3,000 students in the high school class of 2027 are expected to qualify, roughly 2,300 of them through the new state money.
Winthrop University in Rock Hill is among the 16 in state colleges where the scholarship can be used. Eligible institutions must post a graduation rate of at least 50 percent measured over six years. Winthrop’s rate is listed at 60 percent in the fund’s materials. Clemson University tops the list at 86 percent, followed by Furman at 83 percent and Wofford at 81 percent. The University of South Carolina is listed at 78 percent.
Who qualifies
To receive the scholarship, a student must live in South Carolina, graduate from a South Carolina high school in spring 2027, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and receive a Federal Pell Grant, earn the South Carolina LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship, and enroll at an eligible in state college.
There is a significant limit local families should understand. In the 14 counties where the scholarship began, which do not include York, Lancaster or Chester, students can renew the award for up to four years if they stay eligible, remain enrolled full time and complete 250 hours of work during their second and third years of college. In the newly added counties, the state funding covers one year of the scholarship for students graduating in May 2027. It is not available to students already enrolled in college.
Donors and results
Donors have committed more than $87.8 million to 2,219 recipients since the fund launched in Charleston County, according to the organization. Forty eight percent of recipients are the first in their family to attend college. The fund reports 88 percent of recipients remain enrolled or have graduated, 84 percent stay in South Carolina after graduation, and the average college grade point average is 3.4.
“The generosity of our donors has been a catalyst for lasting change,” said Josh Bell, president of Beemok Education, which oversees the scholarship along with Meeting Street Schools and the Excellence in Teaching Awards. “Because they believed in the potential of South Carolina students, thousands of young people have been able to pursue a college education without the burden of overwhelming debt.”
House Speaker Murrell Smith, a Sumter Republican, said the expansion “gives thousands of hardworking students an opportunity they’ve earned and strengthens the future of South Carolina.”
McMaster said in a statement that “higher education must remain affordable and accessible for the sons and daughters of South Carolina,” and pointed to the combination of private donations and lottery revenue behind the program.
Beemok covers the operating costs of the scholarship so that donated and appropriated funds go directly to students, the organization said.
Students and parents can check eligibility or submit an interest form to be notified when applications open at meetingstreetscholarshipfund.org.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
