South Carolina Law > Code of Laws > Title 59

SECTION 59-143-10. Establishment of endowment; stated purposes; allocations.

(A) There is established the South Carolina Children's Education Endowment. The revenue received pursuant to Section 48-46-40(E)(3) must be deposited by the State Treasurer in a fund separate and distinct from the state general fund entitled the "Children's Education Endowment". All interest or income earned by the fund shall be retained in the fund and used for its stated purposes, which are to provide funding for Public School Facilities Assistance and Higher Education Scholarship Grants. It is the intent of the General Assembly that in creating this endowment that its funds be managed so as to establish and fund these programs permanently.

(B) Upon receipt of monies transferred to the Children's Education Endowment by the State Treasurer, thirty percent of these monies must be allocated to Higher Education Scholarship Grants and seventy percent must be allocated to Public School Facility Assistance. Earnings on each allocation shall accumulate for the benefit of that particular program. The Comptroller General shall record low-level radioactive waste tax revenues collected from the Barnwell waste facility on the accrual basis; however, no expenditure may be made against these accrued revenues until the related cash is deposited with the State. These revenues must be distributed in the manner prescribed by Section 48-48-140.

(C) Funds made available for Need-based Grants and Palmetto Fellows Scholarships through the Higher Education Scholarship Grants allocation must be no more than the prior year's earned revenue. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any unspent balance in the Higher Education Scholarship Grants allocation of the Children's Education Endowment Fund, including interest and low-level radioactive waste tax revenue from previous years' collections, may be made available for Need-based Grants and Palmetto Fellows Scholarships.

(D) Funds made available from the public school facilities program allocation must be no more than the funds earned and received for that allocation through the most recently completed quarter.

HISTORY: 1995 Act No. 145, Part II, SECTION 82; 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, SECTION 4B; 2008 Act No. 353, SECTION 2, Pt 1.C.1, eff July 1, 2008; 2026 Act No. 188 (H.4738), SECTION 5, eff May 18, 2026.

Effect of Amendment

The 2008 amendment designated subsections (A) to (D); and, in subsection (C), added the second sentence relating to disposition of any unspent balance in the Higher Education Scholarship Grants allocation of the Children's Education Endowment Fund.

2026 Act No. 188, SECTION 5, in (C), in the first sentence, deleted "and must be released for use on July first and January first of each fiscal year" following "earned revenue".

SECTION 59-143-30. Allocation for students attending independent colleges.

(1) Of the funds made available for higher education scholarship grants from the higher education scholarship grant allocation under Section 59-143-10 for any year, one-half shall be allocated for Need-based Grants and one-half shall be allocated for Palmetto Fellows Scholarships.

(2) Of the total funds made available for higher education scholarship grants from the higher education scholarship grant allocation under Section 59-143-10 for any year, a percentage thereof must be allocated for students attending independent institutions of higher learning in this State. This percentage shall be equivalent to the percentage of the independent colleges' share of the total South Carolina resident undergraduate full-time (FTE) enrollment of all public and independent institutions of higher learning in this State based on the previous year's data as determined by the Commission on Higher Education and the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission. This percentage shall be drawn from the funds allocated under item (1) for Need-based Grants.

(3) The allocation each year to students at the South Carolina independent colleges under item (2) shall be used to provide tuition grants under Chapter 113. The funds allocated for South Carolina Tuition Grants to South Carolina independent colleges students under this subsection shall be included in the annual appropriation to the Commission on Higher Education and transferred annually into the budget of the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission in the amount prescribed in item (2).

(4) Independent colleges for purposes of this subsection means those institutions eligible to participate in the South Carolina Tuition Grants Program as defined by Section 59-113-50.

(5) Public institutions shall receive the remaining allocation each year of the funds made available for higher education scholarship grants under Section 59-143-10.

(6) The maximum amount of funding provided for awards to students attending South Carolina independent colleges from the Children's Education Endowment Fund for South Carolina Tuition Grants shall not exceed the percentage funding calculation described under item (2).

HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, SECTION 20C; 2026 Act No. 188 (H.4738), SECTION 6, eff May 18, 2026.

Effect of Amendment

2026 Act No. 188, SECTION 6, added (1) and redesignated (1) to (5) as (2) to (6); in new (2), in the first sentence, added "total" preceding "funds", deleted "of the 1976 Code" following "Section 59-143-10", and substituted "allocated for students attending independent institutions" for "allocated for higher education scholarships and grants for students attending South Carolina independent colleges" preceding "of higher learning", and added the third sentence; and rewrote new (3).