5,800 incoming freshman. That’s ~500 students more than UofSC expected to welcome for the upcoming fall semester.

UofSC had aimed to grow by 100 students each year until the freshman class reached 6,000 students – so this year, the university was only ready for 5,300.

In order to accommodate the largest freshman class ever, UofSC needed to hastily make curriculum adjustments this summer – 118 extra sessions of classes were added and more professors were hired.

The university will pay two off-campus apartment complexes (Park Place + Aspyre) $7.6 million to house the surplus of students that outgrew the 7,000 beds on campus. The campus shuttle service will expand to include the apartments as stops on the route.

What caused the influx of 18-year-olds to move to Cola this week? UofSC Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Scott Verzyl attributes the large freshman class to the men’s + women’s basketball success in March + April (a.k.a. the months in which most high school seniors are making their college choice). He witnessed a similar bounce while working in admissions at Georgia Tech the semester following the Yellow Jacket’s football national title in 1990.

About one-third of accepted applicants will attend UofSC this semester, which is a 3% rise from the 2016-2017 academic year.

4 min read / The State