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The Upstate Schools and Education

The Upstate area has plenty of things going for it, including a fine quality of life, pristine scenery, a thriving business climate, plenty of entertainment options, and a strong healthcare sector. One important item that you might have overlooked when moving here is the plethora of quality public education institutions that dot the region.

The public school systems are strong, while the area’s institutions of higher learning are perennially ranked by national publications. The colleges and universities also offer many opportunities for adult continuing education. The following are overviews of the public school systems, as well as a few of the colleges and universities.

Spartanburg County Public Schools
Public schools in Spartanburg County are administered by seven independent districts that serve more than 44,000 students in 80 schools and four career centers.

Officials are meeting the growth demands by building new schools and staggering many renovation projects at existing schools. That growth doesn’t seem to have affected student performance in the county, a fact that might be attributable to the 1:20 teacher-student ratio.

“Spartanburg County boasts above-average SAT scores, and students have consistently won or placed in national academic tournaments,” said Pam Prevatte, communications director at the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce. “Spartanburg County is also home to one of only a handful of public high schools in the nation to be recognized four times by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School.”

According the Spartanburg County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC), many Spartanburg Schools have been honored as Palmetto’s Finest Award winners. This is an award presented to the three most outstanding primary, elementary or middle schools in South Carolina. Also, according the SCEDC, the many schools in the Spartanburg districts have been honored with the South Carolina Red Carpet Award, which is a program recognizing family-friendly philosophies and environments in schools.
Spartanburg school districts offer innovative programs surrounding technical education and vocational training centers throughout the Spartanburg area offer technical education ranging from automotive technology to e-commerce.

Greenville County Schools
Greenville County students are served by one school district, which is known as Greenville County Schools (GCS). With 67,383 students in the 2006-07 school year, GCS is ranked the 54th largest school system in the nation. And while meeting the demands of growth is a constant challenge, GCS schools still perform exceptional well as compared to their peer schools across the country.

In 2007, GCS schools received 12 National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, 17 Palmetto’s Finest Schools (State’s Top Schools), 37 Red Carpet Schools, 27 PTA National Schools of Excellence and 19 Baldridge Model Schools.

Greenville County teachers led the state in 2007 National Board Certifications, one of the profession’s most respected achievements. Greenville County also ranked 16th in the nation with 385 teachers who have achieved National Board Certification – more board certified teachers than 30 states.
When it comes to academics, GCS is committed to helping each student thrive in his or her school environment. In 2006, Greenville County students outperformed their state counterparts by 25 points with an average score of 1490, just below the national average of 1518. Seventy-one percent of Greenville County Schools in 2006 received Absolute ratings of Excellent, Good, or Average on South Carolina State Department of Education School Report Cards.

Colleges and Universities
Greenville has many options for higher learning. Bob Jones University is a four-year, private school; Greenville Technical College is a two-year, public school; the International Gospel Fellowship Bible College and Theological Seminary is a private seminary; Webster University has a Greenville Metropolitan campus; and Furman University is a four-year, private institution.

“Furman is a selective, residential liberal arts and sciences school,” said Benny Walker, vice president for student enrollment at Furman. “We have 700 new students each year, Furman averages 2,650 students each year, and has an average of 620 graduates each year. Furman offers all students strong academic programs that include pre-professional programs in medicine, law and education.”

In fact, more than 70 percent of its graduates go on to law school, medical school, and other forms of graduate education, he said. The university is consistently listed among the nation’s top 50 liberal arts colleges in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings.

When it comes to athletics, Furman offers its student body many choices.
“We have an NCAA Division I athletic program that features 17 sports for men and women,” said Walker. “These teams compete at the national level.”
Furman’s athletic program is so strong that it was recently recognized for having the best Academic Progress Rate in the league, said Walker.

Furman also offers a conservatory-type music program that includes an undergraduate symphony music program, as well as a chorus and band program.

Potential students find Furman to be an attractive choice for several reasons, he said.
“Furman is a beautiful campus, but it also focuses on undergraduate teaching and the education program focuses on ‘engaged learning,’” he said. “All of our students have the opportunity for research programs and internships. This is very important to all students because it validates their career choices.”

Located in nearby Anderson, Anderson University was ranked one of the best universities in the South by both U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. In addition to these lofty accolades, Anderson University was recognized by U.S. News as one of the top 35 Universities in the South whose graduates accumulate the least amount of educational debt, meaning students have to borrow less money to acquire a top-notch education at a “Top Tier” university.

According to its mission statement of purpose, “Anderson University is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, providing a challenging education grounded in the liberal arts, enhanced by professional and graduate programs and a co-curricular focus on the development of character, servant leadership, and cultural engagement.”

Anderson also strives to be a premier teaching university where liberal arts and professional studies thrive within a distinctively Christian community of faculty, staff and students dedicated to learning and service.
According to its web site, “Anderson University takes pride in being able to function as a community rather than a conglomerate. Accordingly, we have adopted a set of community values that support our aspiration to fulfill the University’s mission and achieve its vision, both of which are considerable aims. Values serve as guiding principles that shape our daily actions. These are dimensions of our community we believe are very important and should be known and understood by everyone within our institution.”

The credentials and experience of its 80 full-time faculty members, most of whom hold doctorates or other terminal degrees, reflect Anderson University’s continuing emphasis on high academic standards. The average ratio of students to faculty is 13-to-1, one of the smaller ratios in higher education. This ratio, combined with extraordinary commitment to personalized education, translates to small classes, and the ability of professors to give one-on-one attention, gives students a challenging and focused learning opportunity.

Also, for those looking to continue their education, the Anderson University Lifelong Learning Institute is one of over 200 Institutes for Lifelong Learning currently in operation throughout the United States and Canada.
An Institute for Lifelong Learning is a member-driven organization which presents noncredit courses to mature learners who want to improve skills, exploring new ideas and interact with interesting and active people. The location of ACLLI on the Anderson University campus also provides members with access to a wealth of additional academic and cultural opportunities.

There are also several colleges in Spartanburg. Converse College is a four-year, private school; St. Anselm Seminary is a private seminary; and Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic is a graduate school. In addition, Spartanburg Methodist College is a two-year, private institution; the University of South Carolina has Upstate campuses in Spartanburg and Greenville; Wofford College is a four-year, private school; and Spartanburg Technical College is a two-year, public school.

“At Spartanburg Technical College, we have curricula that are unique to the technical college system,” said Kelley Jones, executive assistant to the president of Spartanburg Technical College. “For instance, we have a culinary arts program in which students can earn a degree, but other technical colleges may offer this subject as a continuing education class.”

The college also offers 35 programs in business, industrial and engineering technologies, and a variety of health and human services curriculums, including interpreter training, respiratory care, nursing, and radiography.

“We had 4,095 students attend our college last year, and we anticipate that number to increase to around 4,260 students next year,” said Jones. “Last year we had 673 graduates, which increased from 600 graduates the previous year. We have steadily increased over the last five years.

“I think one thing that contributes to the steady increase is that we offer weekend college,” she said. “We’ve always offered day and evening classes, but many people have jobs that make it difficult to pursue higher education. Weekend college is an attractive option for these students because they can take basic math, English, accounting, and computer classes that will accommodate their busy schedules.”

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The Upstate Schools and Education

Communities in We Serve in the Upstate Region