No individual, school, board, association, corporation, business, institution, or other entity may use the term "college" or "university" or use any other name, title, literature, catalogs, pamphlets, or descriptive matter which implies that it is an institution of higher learning or that it may grant educational credentials or credit or academic or professional degrees, except as follows:

(A) An institution the commission licenses may use the term "college" in its name only if it offers at least one program leading to an associate or higher degree.

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 59-58-60

  • Commission: means the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. See South Carolina Code 59-58-20
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Degree: includes , but is not limited to, any academic credential or designation not less than, but including associate, bachelor, master, doctor, or fellow, whether earned or honorary, which signifies, purports, or is generally taken to signify partial or satisfactory completion of the requirements of an academic, occupational, business, or other program of study beyond the secondary school level. See South Carolina Code 59-58-20
  • Entity: includes , but is not limited to, a person or group of persons. See South Carolina Code 59-58-20
  • Program: means an organized unit of subject matter in which instruction is offered within a given time and for which credit is given toward completion of training toward a predetermined occupational or academic credential. See South Carolina Code 59-58-20

(B) An institution may use the term "university" in its name if the institution is:

(1) operating and licensed in South Carolina and using the term " university" in its name before the effective date of this chapter, or

(2) an out-of-state institution that is chartered or licensed in its home state using the term "university" in its name.

Any other institution must petition the commission for approval to use the term "university" in its name.