USC celebrates record $358M in fundraising, other SC colleges also set records

COLUMBIA — The University of South Carolina is touting a record-breaking year of fundraising.

The eight-school system, with a main campus in Columbia and seven other two- and four-year schools scattered around the state, raised $357.6 million in the budget year that ended June 30, according to a statement Wednesday.

That’s nearly $100 million more than the record set by the college system last year.

“This historic year reflects great confidence in the mission of the University of South Carolina,” USC President Michael Amiridis said in a statement. “Our alumni, friends and partners are investing in the people, ideas and discoveries that will shape USC’s future. Their generosity is expanding opportunity, accelerating innovation and strengthening our impact across South Carolina and beyond.”

Most of the money raised will go to athletics: $81 million for scholarships across all sports and $147 million for improvements to Williams-Brice football stadium.

The remaining $129 million is academic-related.

The largest gift of the year — $30 million — went to the medical school, named in honor of the late Kay Floyd, who died in 2023, and the late Dr. Eddie Floyd of Florence, who died in January at age 91.

The Floyd family made the donation in May in the name of Eddie Floyd, a retired heart surgeon, alumnus and the longest-serving member of the college’s governing boare, and his wife, a graduate of both Saint Mary’s College in Raleigh and USC.

Beyond medicine, the Floyds also ran one of the largest farming operations in the state and were major Republican fundraisers.

“My parents loved this university with all of their hearts. They believed deeply in improving lives and expanding opportunity,” said Dr. Coleman Floyd Buckhouse, the Floyd’s daughter who in 2024 succeeded her father on the school’s governing board.

The gift will fund scholarships for medical students and surgery, neurosurgery, neurology, sports medicine and science faculty at the school.

A separate, $22 million, anonymous gift to the medical school this year also will fund scholarships and clinical training for students.

The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation were the college’s second-largest donors of the year, giving $25 million.

The late Bob McNair, a 1958 graduate and founder of the Houston Texans, and his late wife, Janice McNair, who died last month at age 89, were prolific donors to the college, giving $20 million in 1998 to establish a scholarship fund. That was followed by $8 million in 2016 to found the McNair Institute for Entrepreneurism and Free Enterprise and an additional $18 million commitment by the family in 2019, following McNair’s death.

Other landmark gifts this year included:

• $5 million to the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management for the new David and Nicole Tepper Department of Sport and Entertainment Management
• $5 million to USC Beaufort for the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center
• A $7 million unnamed gift to the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing.
• $1.5 million unnamed gift to the School of Music, one of the largest gifts in the school’s history, for Baroque and early music faculty
• A $2.5 million unnamed gift to the College of Pharmacy for pediatric oncology research

Carolina Panthers owner donates $5M to USC for scholarships, professorships

Other colleges

In the Upstate, Clemson University celebrated its sixth consecutive year of raising more than $200 million.

Clemson’s fundraising peaked in 2024 at $259 million. This year, the school raised $202 million.

Major gifts included $16.5 million from Don Quattlebaum, alumnus and owner of White House Farms in Georgetown, to the college’s new veterinary college.

The funding will pay for the Quattlebaum Hub, featuring classroom space, conference rooms, a library and a bookstore, as well as a pavilion for students to relax outdoors and money to hire faculty.

Michelin and the Bezos Earth Foundation Fund also donated $11 million to the school for sustainable cotton research.

In all, the school raised enough for 178 new scholarships and fellowships and nine new endowed professorships.

In addition to the fundraising record set at USC, the College of Charleston raised a record $47 million and Winthrop University raised a record $11.7 million.