Admissions Policies & Procedures

Want to be an SC State Bulldog?

Here are our Admissions Policies and Procedures

General Information

An application for admission must be submitted and approved and an official notification of acceptance issued by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions before any person may enroll in an undergraduate course. Before action can be taken on an application for admission, all credentials required by university policy must be received by the admissions office, which has responsibility for evaluation of credentials for the purpose of admission.

Applications must be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee specified on the application form. Application forms are available online .

Applications submitted more than one year in advance of the anticipated date of enrollment will be acknowledged, but no action will be taken until admission standards for the year in question have been established. The number of students admitted and enrolled in any year will be determined by the capacity of the institution to provide for the educational and other needs of the students and by budgetary or other appropriate considerations. Undergraduate admissions policies and procedures are subject to continuous review by the Division for Enrollment Management.

Selected applicants who present evidence of special talents for University programs requiring such special talents may be evaluated on the basis of these talents as well as high-school grades and entrance examination scores. The University reserves the right to place conditions on the admission of any student. In the event such action is taken, the conditions will be clearly explained in the letter of acceptance.

Proof of immunization is required before a student will be allowed to enroll in classes at South Carolina State University.

Campus visits may be arranged through the Admissions & Recruitment Office. Individual and group tours of the University leave from Crawford-Zimmerman Building during regularly scheduled times on weekdays and by special arrangement. Admissions counselors are available Monday through Friday. The admissions office is usually open throughout the year except for established university holidays.

Freshman Admission

A freshman applicant is a person who has not attended a regionally accredited college or university after high-school graduation.

Freshman applicants are encouraged to apply in the fall prior to the fall for which they seek admission, but no later than the December 1 priority deadline. Additional information about current admission deadlines, credential requirements and notification dates can be found on the undergraduate admissions website.

All applicants for first-year admission should have completed the following courses:

Recommended High School Curriculum

Course Type	Credits
English	4 credits
Mathematics	4 credits
Laboratory Sciences	3 credits
Foreign Language	3 credits
Social Sciences	3 credits
Other	2 credits
Physical Education	1 credit
Fine Arts	1 credit

Transfer Admission

An applicant who, having graduated from high school, has attended another regionally accredited postsecondary institution, and attempted one or more courses is a transfer student, regardless of credit earned. If fewer than 12 semester hours of college-level work have been attempted, the applicant must meet both transfer and freshman entrance requirements.

Additional information about current transfer admission deadlines, credential requirements and notification dates can be found on the undergraduate admissions website.

Note: Deadlines are subject to change at any time. The most up-to-date information can be viewed on the undergraduate admissions website.

All applicants for transfer admission must be eligible to return to the last institution attended as a degree-seeking student.

The applicant must submit official transcripts of all previous college courses attempted whether or not credit was earned and regardless of whether the applicant wishes to transfer any credit. An official transcript must be sent directly to the admissions office from each institution attended. Failure to report all attempted college courses may constitute sufficient cause for later dismissal from the University.

Transfer applicants from regionally accredited colleges and universities are required to have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 (on a 4.00 scale) on all college-level courses attempted.

In addition to the general requirements for admission outlined in this section, some departments and colleges within the University set additional requirements that may be higher than the University’s minimum standards. For more specific information concerning entrance requirements for individual colleges and departments, refer to the program section of this bulletin or the undergraduate admissions website.

Colleges within the University have the right to consider all attempted college-level work in determining admission to programs and/or advancement into upper-division or professional-level courses. Transfer

Evaluation of Transfer Credits

Transfer credits to South Carolina State University must be from regionally accredited institutions for academic courses completed with grades of C- or better. Applicability of credits toward a particular degree is determined by the college or major in which the student enrolls. The number of credits acceptable to the University and the number which may apply toward a particular degree may differ.

Students transferring from non-accredited colleges may be allowed to validate credit after admission to the University. Details of the validation procedure vary and may be obtained from the dean’s office of the college in which the student is enrolled.

Original records are required for courses exempted at a previous college. Exemption credit or acceptance of transfer credit by another college has no bearing on the evaluation of transfer credit at South Carolina State University.

Students transferring to the University from another college or university must, before enrolling in class at the University, have their transcripts evaluated by the University. It is only in the light of such evaluation that students will know definitively the transferability and equivalency of each transfer course. Degree applicability will be determined by the college or school in which the student is enrolled.

Transferability refers to the conditions under which the University accepts credit for inclusion in the student’s record. Transfer courses must have been taken at a regionally accredited post - secondary institution. Coursework classified as remedial by the University will appear on the student’s record but will not be used to determine admission eligibility or a transfer GPA. Exceptions to this rule may be made by the Office of the Registrar when state scholarship eligibility rules require inclusion.
Equivalency entails equating transfer credit, both in hours and content, to South Carolina State Universities’ coursework. The Registrar’s Office works with SCSU colleges and schools to coordinate the process of transfer evaluation to equate transfer courses directly to courses in the SCSU course catalog; to subject codes which represent subjects not offered at SCSU; or to subject codes that identify courses as remedial/technical/non-accredited coursework.
Applicability of credit toward a degree refers to the prerogative of academic divisions to count specific credit toward the fulfillment of a student’s degree requirements. The student’s college or school of enrollment is responsible for determining applicability.

However, a transfer course is not applicable towards any South Carolina State University academic program or degree if:

The transfer course was essentially remedial in nature (example: Developmental English).
The transfer course was occupational or technical in nature (examples: carpentry, welding, etc.)
A grade lower than 2.0 on a 4-point scale, or equivalent, was earned in the transfer course.
The transfer course was taken while a student was on an academic suspension from the university.
The student received any grade other than W an equivalent course at this university, unless the student was enrolled full time at least one year at the transfer institution.

Exceptions to the rules of applicability may be made only by petition to the dean/chairs for undergraduate studies of the College or School in which the student is majoring.

Courses completed at any institution while the student is suspended by the University will not be accepted toward a degree at SCSU. All college-level coursework attempted under academic suspension will be used to evaluate a student’s eligibility for admission.

Credits from SC Technical Colleges

Effective June 1, 2022, students who graduate with an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree from a state of South Carolina public two-year institution of higher education are guaranteed to receive a minimum of 60 transfer credit hours and junior class standing upon enrolling at the South Carolina State University – Orangeburg, SC. All degree requirements, course prerequisites, minimum grades and credit requirements still apply. (South Carolina proviso 117.152).

Admission of International Students

South Carolina State University welcomes the applications of qualified international students.¹ At least six months before the beginning of the semester they wish to enter, and in the case of freshman applicants, at least nine months beforehand, students must send a complete application, including standardized test scores, school records, and financial statements, to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Students who have attended colleges or universities outside of the United States are required to submit a professional credential evaluation of all work completed.

SC State University welcomes the applications of qualified students who are not citizens of the United States. Such students may be admitted to SC State University under the following regulations in addition to the general admission requirements which all applicants must fulfill:

Exchange Students

Students who do not wish to earn a degree from SC State but only wish to study for a shorter term (a semester or one year) will have to submit everything from the degree seeking section except for the SAT/ACT section.

Degree Seeking Students

A degree seeking student is a student that wishes to attend SC State University and remain until all degree requirements are met to obtain a diploma from the university.

An Undergraduate Application or Graduate Application; SC State University prefers its students to apply online, however, if you would like to submit a paper application, download the International Admissions Application (PDF) and mail it to SC State University Office of Admissions.

Application Deadlines

International Students

Fall semester – June 15
Spring Semester – November 15
Summer Semester – April 15

First-Year International Admission Requirements

To apply, applicants must submit ALL documents before their application is considered complete and ready for review.

Required Application Documents:

An online application
Proof of English proficiency: If English is not your first language, you will need to submit proof of English skills. We accept a variety of different scores:

TOEFL PBT: 500
TEOFL iBT: 61
IELTS: 5.5
Pearson: 44
Duolingo: 85

A list of exempt countries can be found here.

Official Transcripts (Graduate of a foreign/non-U.S. High School): Applicants who attended high schools outside of the United States must have their transcripts evaluated via International Credential Evaluations (InCred) or another globally approved transcript evaluation service. World Education Services.
Official Transcripts (Graduate of a U.S. High School): Applicants who have attended high school in the United States must submit official copies of their high school transcripts. Transcripts must be sent directly from the applicant’s high school through a secure online service such as Parchment/Naviance, National Student Clearinghouse or eScript, or via mail in a sealed envelope to:

Official record of ACT/SAT scores: ACT or SAT scores are required for SCSU course placement. Applicants can have their test scores sent directly to SCSU from ACT or the College Board (SAT) when you register for the test.

- ACT Code: 3876
- SAT Code: 5618
Certificate of Finance: According to U.S. government regulations, applicants must demonstrate they have sufficient funds to pay for tuition costs and living expenses for at least 1 year at SCSU. Applicants living off-campus will need to provide their monthly rental amounts. To meet this requirement, applicants must submit a bank statement, certificate of deposit, scholarship award letter, or a combination of the three. **An Affidavit of Support needs to be attached to any statement that is not in the applicant’s name. Please note that both the Affidavit of Support and any necessary financial statements must be translated into English.**

An English proficiency test will be administered to international students, except those from English-speaking countries, upon arrival at the University. All international students must demonstrate sufficient proficiency in written and oral English to progress at the University level. Students who are not proficient in English will be required to take noncredit, concentrated English language training until proficiency is demonstrated.

In addition, freshman applicants must have completed a level of education equivalent to that of students entering from accredited secondary schools in the United States and have superior grades on their schoolwork. Applicants who seek to enter from another college or university in the United States must meet transfer admission requirements.

International applicants will not be allowed to enroll in classes until they establish their ability to pay education expenses. The policies of certain countries have created financial difficulties for their citizens studying at the University. Applicants from these countries will be so notified and required to make an advance deposit of expenses. Applicants from other nations must submit certification of financial support to satisfy this requirement. Some financial assistance from the University is available to qualified international students.

Have questions?

Contact the SC State Office of Admissions & Recruitment

Davion Petty

Director

dpetty@scsu.edu

803-536-8067 or 803-747-4940