Founded in 1896, South Carolina State University (SCSU) is a historically black institution based in the town of Orangeburg. This is a student-centric city, as well as SCSU being home to Claflin University.

SCSU offers baccalaureate degrees in a wide range of fields, such as biology, education, business, engineering, computer science, and English language & literature. As part of the College of Graduate and Professional studies SCSU is one of only three universities in the state to offering either a doctorate in educational administration, or a master’s in speech-language pathology. Started in 2002, the Nuclear Engineering programme is an innovative scheme deriving from the ‘nuclear renaissance’ in energy research and is the only course of its kind at a historically black university or college.

Opened in 1967, the Whitaker Library on campus now contains over 300,00 print volumes and over a million microforms. The library was first constructed of two levels, and a mezzanine layer was added in 1979.

Varsity teams at SCSU are known as the Bulldogs, and there are six men’s sports programmes and eight women’s. Teams compete in the NCAA Division I, and play in the university colours of garnet and navy blue. American football is played at the 22,000 seater Dawson Stadium.

Esteemed alumni of SCSU include American football player Deacon Jones, US Army General Stephen Twitty, jazz trombonist Ron Westray, and House Majority Whip, Jim Clyburn.

The motto of SCSU is ‘knowledge, duty, honour’.