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Student Financial Aid

Scholarship Enhancement Majors and Classes

The South Carolina General Assembly provides Scholarship Enhancements starting in the second year of enrollment for LIFE and Palmetto Fellows recipients majoring in approved math, science and education disciplines.  

 

Enhancement Award

Scholarship enhancement awards are up to $2,500 per year in addition to the yearly LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship award amounts. The combination of your state scholarship and enhancement amount may not exceed the cost of attendance with all other scholarships and grants applied. 

 

Eligibility for STEM Enhancements

  • Enrolled full-time as a degree-seeking undergraduate student
  • Be a recipient of the LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
  • Complete 30 credit hours post high school graduation
  • Pursue an eligible math or science related major
  • Earn 14 credit hours in approved STEM courses before the end of first year of college
  • Eligible STEM Enhancement Majors
    Current Eligible STEM Majors
    MAJOR CODE PROGRAM
    BS-ACCT-D ACCT BS ACCOUNTING (Beginning in Fall 2025)
    BS-BIEN-F BIEN BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
    BS-AVS-A AVS ANIMAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCES
    BS-PES-A PES PLANT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
    BS-FDHN-A FDHN FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN NUTRITION
    BS-HORT-A HORT HORTICULTURE
    BS-PKGS-A PKGS PACKAGING SCIENCE
    BA-STCH-E STCH BA SCIENCE TEACHING
    BS-STCH-E STCH BS SCIENCE TEACHING
    BS-MLEV-E MLEV + E204 MIDDLE-LEVEL EDUCATION (MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EMPHASIS)

    *Students who started college prior to 2020-21 are not eligible.
    BA-SECE-E SECE + E101 SECONDARY EDUCATION (MATHEMATICS EMPHASIS)
    BS-MTCH-E MTCH MATHEMATICS TEACHING
    BS-BIOE-F BIOE BIOENGINEERING
    BS-CHEN-F CHEN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
    BS-CIVE-F CIVE CIVIL ENGINEERING
    BS-CPEN-F CPEN COMPUTER ENGINEERING
    BS-ELEN-F ELEN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
    BS-ENVE-F ENVE ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
    BS-INEN-F INEN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
    BS-MSE-F MSE MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
    BS-ME-F ME MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
    BS-NURS-C NURS NURSING
    BS_NURS-C NURS NURSING (RN to BSN)
    BS-HLTH-C HLTH HEALTH SCIENCE
    BS-BIOC-G BIOC BIOCHEMISTRY
    BA-BIOS-G BIOS BA BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
    BS-BIOS-G BIOS BS BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
    BA-CHEM-G CHEM BA CHEMISTRY
    BS-CHEM-G CHEM CHEMISTRY
    BS-CIS-F CIS COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS
    BA-CPSC-F CPSC BA COMPUTER SCIENCE
    BS-CPSC-F CPSC BS COMPUTER SCIENCE
    BS-GEN-G GEN GENETICS
    BA-GEOL-F GEOL BA GEOLOGY
    BS-GEOL-F GEOL BS GEOLOGY
    BA-MTHS-G MTHS BA MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
    BS-MTHS-G MTHS BS MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
    BS-MICR-G MICR MICROBIOLOGY
    BS-NCSM-B NCSM CONSTRUCTION SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT

    *Students who started college prior to 2022-2023 are not eligible.
    BA-PHYS-G PHYS BA PHYSICS
    BS-PHYS-G PHYS BS PHYSICS
    BS-AGED-A AGED AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
    BS-AGME-A AGME AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION AND BUSINESS
    BS-ENR-A ENR ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES
    BS-FORM-A FORM FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
    BS-TURF-A TURF TURFGRASS
    BS-WFB-A WFB WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES BIOLOGY
    BS-DATA-G DATA DATA SCIENCES

    SPECIAL NOTE: General engineering (major code GENG) does not qualify for the Palmetto Fellows or LIFE enhancements. Engineering students must be in one of the specific disciplines listed above.

  • Approved STEM Enhancement Courses
    Approved STEM courses that meet the 14-hour requirement
    COURSE COURSE DESCRIPTION
    ACCT ACCOUNTING*
    AFLS AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND LIFE SCIENCES
    ASTR ASTRONOMY
    AUE AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
    AVS ANIMAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCE
    BE BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
    BIOE BIOENGINEERING
    BCHM BIOCHEMISTRY
    BIOL BIOLOGY
    BIOS BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
    BMOL BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING
    BOT BOTANY
    BT BIOSYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY
    CE CIVIL ENGINEERING
    CME CERAMIC AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING
    CES COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING OF SCIENCE
    CH CHEMISTRY
    CHE CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
    CPSC COMPUTER SCIENCE
    CSEN CROP AND SOIL ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
    CVT CARDIOVASCULAR TECHNOLOGY
    DPA DIGITAL PRODUCTION ARTS
    ECE ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
    EG ENGINEERING GRAPHICS
    EM ENGINEERING MECHANICS
    EES ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
    ENSP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY
    ENGR ENGINEERING
    ENT ENTOMOLOGY
    ESED ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE EDUCATION
    ETOX ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY
    EXST EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS
    FDHN FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN NUTRITION
    FDTH FOOD TECHNOLOGY
    GEN GENETICS
    GEO GEOGRAPHY
    GEOL GEOLOGY
    HCG HEALTH CARE GENETICS
    HLTH HEALTH
    HORT HORTICULTURE
    IE INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
    IPM INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
    ME MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
    MICR MICROBIOLOGY
    MSE MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
    MATH MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
    MTHS MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
    NURS NURSING
    NUTR NUTRITION
    PES PLANT AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
    PFC POLYMER AND FIBER CHEMISTRY
    PHSC PHYSICAL SCIENCE
    PHYS PHYSICS
    PKSC PACKAGING SCIENCE
    PLPA PLANT PATHOLOGY
    PLPH PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
    SSCS SOILS AND SUSTAINABLE CROP SYSTEMS
    STAT STATISTICS
    STS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SOCIETY
    SYSE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
    TEXT TEXTILES

    NOTE: EX ST, CP SC AND MTHSC meet the match requirement. All others meet the science requirement. 

    *ACCT 2010 is the only approved ACCT course meeting the 14-hour requirement for accounting majors

Eligibility for Education Enhancement

  • Enrolled full-time as a degree-seeking undergraduate student
  • Be a recipient of the LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
  • Complete 30 credit hours post high school graduation
  • Pursue an approved education, science education or math education major
  • Submit an Education Enhancement Agreement each year

Education Enhancement Agreement

The Education Enhancement requires recipients to submit an agreement requiring teaching service in an eligible South Carolina public school for each year the award is received.  Recipients who fail to fulfill the teaching service requirements must repay applicable Enhancement funds received.

  • Eligible Education Enhancement Majors
    Current Eligible Education Majors
    MAJOR CODE PROGRAM
    BA-ECHE-E ECHE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
    BA-ELED-E ELED ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
    BA-MLED-E MLED MODERN LANGUAGE EDUCATION, SPANISH
    BA-MLED-E MLED MODERN LANGUAGE EDUCATION, FRENCH
    BA-MLED-E MLED MODERN LANGUAGE EDUCATION, ASL
    BS-STCH-E STCH BS SCIENCE TEACHING
    BS-STCH-E STCH BS SCIENCE TEACHING, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
    BA-STCH-E STCH BA SCIENCE TEACHING, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
    BA-STCH-E STCH BA SCIENCE TEACHING, CHEMISTRY
    BA-STCH-E STCH BA SCIENCE TEACHING, PHYSICS
    BA-SECE-E SECE SECONDARY EDUCATION, ENGLISH 
    BA-SECE-E SECE SECONDARY EDUCATION, MATHEMATICS
    BA-SECE-E SECE SECONDARY EDUCATION, SOCIAL STUDIES
    BA-SPED-E SPED SPECIAL EDUCATION
    BS-AGED-A AGED AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION TEACHING
    BS-MTCH-E MTCH MATHEMATICS TEACHING
    BS-MLEV-E EDML MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION, ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
    BS-MLEV-E MLEV MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION, MATHEMATICS
    BS-MLEV-E MLEV MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION, SCIENCE
    BS-MLEV-E MLEV MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION, SOCIAL STUDIES

     

Additional Details

Renewal Requirements

To renew the Enhancement award for each year following initial eligibility, students must:

  • Remain eligible for LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
  • Be in an eligible STEM or education major
  • If majoring in education, complete the Education Enhancement Agreement each year

Major Changes

State Scholarship Enhancements will not be awarded or removed mid-academic year. Eligible students who change in to an approved Enhancement major will begin receiving the Enhancement award the following academic year. For students who change out of an approved Enhancement major, they will receive the award until the end of the current academic year.