PTSD broke up a veteran’s family. Now his daughters could lose SC college scholarships too.

COLUMBIA — A U.S. Army veteran from South Carolina was shot and injured in combat while serving in Afghanistan, earning the man a Purple Heart.

But war took its toll. When he came home to Columbia, to his wife and twin daughters, he was a different man. Doctors diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The effects of the disease ultimately broke up the marriage. The soldier broke contact with his family and moved out of the state.

In leaving, he took the one remaining thing he could impart to children — a free college education at one of South Carolina’s public universities.

SC colleges have frozen tuition for several years. University presidents say that’s not sustainable.

State Rep. Seth Rose wants to change that.

“We’re trying to close a loophole,” the Columbia Democrat said.

Under state law, South Carolina waives tuition at its 33 public colleges and universities for the children of veterans who are missing or killed in action, die from injuries related to service, are a prisoner of war, are permanently or totally disabled by their service, or are awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor or a Purple Heart.

But for their children to qualify, that veteran and their kids must currently live in South Carolina and have been a resident for at least one year. In the case of a soldier who dies in combat, they must have deployed from and been a resident of the state at the time of their death.

The two girls Rose spoke of Wednesday are currently high school sophomores in Columbia. They’re not yet sure what they want to study but they’re considering attending Clemson University, Lander University or the College of Charleston.

Their father’s move means they will now have to cover their own tuition costs, unless the law changes.

“It’s not just the veteran who suffers when they have a mental injury from serving in the armed forces and they’re wounded in action, it’s the entire family,” Rose said. “These two young girls, their relationship with their father, was forever changed because of his service and his post-traumatic stress syndrome.”

Last school semester, the state Department of Veterans Affairs received 3,643 requests for tuition waivers from the children of South Carolina veterans, agency Secretary Todd McCaffrey told a House panel considering the bill Wednesday. Those waivers are worth about $36 million annually.

Changing the residency requirements is not expected to change those numbers significantly.

But it would make a big difference for those two girls, Rose said.

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“It’s a very valued program to the veteran community,” McCaffrey said. “What makes South Carolina such a great state for veterans is a program like this.”

Other members of the House panel — Republican Rep. Bobby Cox, who is a former U.S. Army Ranger from Greer, and Repbulican Rep. Joe White, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran from Prosperity — agreed with Rose and said they’d like to find ways to expand the program even further.

The legislators took no action on the bill this week as they research potential amendments to broaden its reach.