S.C. HBCUs including Morris get $2.4M to boost distance learning

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COLUMBIA (AP) - The eight historically black colleges and universities in South Carolina are getting more than $2 million for technology upgrades, part of emergency relief parceled out from a federal funding package related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Gov. Henry McMaster's office said Thursday that the money would be used to upgrade the schools' abilities to conduct online learning, a need revealed during the switch to distance learning earlier this year. Funding is expected to be used on hardware, software, distance-learning resources and electronic textbooks.

Roslyn Clark Artis, president of Benedict College in Columbia, made an original request for the funding, which is coming from the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund, awarded to each state through the CARES Act. Artis served as a member of AccelerateSC, McMaster's task force created to advise him on matters related to reopening the state's economy following shutdowns related to efforts to stem the outbreak.

McMaster's office said the allocations of the total of $2.4 million were based on a formula taking into account student enrollment and the institutions' percentages of Pell Grant recipients. The funding is going to Allen University, Benedict College, Claflin University, Clinton College, Denmark Technical College, Morris College, South Carolina State University and Vorhees College.