South Carolina’s largest in-state college scholarship program is expanding to cover more than 45,000 students in Spartanburg County public schools thanks to a $40 million donation from Susu and George Dean Johnson Jr., the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund announced Thursday.
“Spartanburg is our home, and we are thrilled to support the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund’s expansion here,” the Johnsons said in a statement. “Education has the power to change lives, and this Scholarship will open doors for talented and deserving students across the county.”
Launched in 2020 by Charleston philanthropists Ben and Kelly Navarro, the scholarship fund provides students with up to $10,000 per year to help close the gap between state-lottery funded scholarships and the real-world price tag of a college education in 2024.
“In 2002, the [lottery scholarship] award covered on average 105% of tuition and fees for a resident attending an in-state public college,” Meeting Street program director John Huber-MacNealy told Statehouse Report earlier this year. “Today, given the rising cost of college, that award only covers 29%, so the impact of the [lottery] scholarship just isn’t what it was when it was created.”
Today, with additional resources from the Navarros, the Johnsons, the Darla Moore Foundation and others, the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund now reaches students in 13 S.C. counties. To qualify, students must:
- Reside in one of the eligible counties: Allendale, Barnwell, Charleston, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Jasper, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Spartanburg or Williamsburg.
- Graduate from a public high school.
- Qualify for a South Carolina LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship.
- Complete the federal student aid application and receive a Pell Grant.
- Enroll in an in-state college or university that graduates at least 50% of its full-time students.
In a recent statement, Clemson religious studies major Aaron Gillam talked about the scholarship’s importance to families like his that could not otherwise afford to pay for a college education.
“They were telling us about what we were going to be receiving (from the scholarship), and I just looked at my mom and she and I both started crying,” Gillam said. “I think our parents take on a lot that they don’t want to tell their kids. I knew she had that stress, even though she didn’t want to admit it to me. So there was stress on my heart and stress on hers, and being able to relieve that for both of us was huge.”
Meeting Street leaders say they hope to eventually expand the scholarship to cover students in all 46 S.C. counties.
“We are not just sending students to college; we are helping them thrive,” said Josh Bell, president of Beemok Education, which manages the scholarship. “We’re building a network of students, families and community members who are committed to ensuring the success of our future leaders, innovators and change-makers.”
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CORRECTION: The first version of this story erroneously reported the scholarship fund to be $400 million, not $40 million. We apologize for the error.
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