State Scholarship Enhancements

The State of South Carolina has created $2500 per year Enhancements for Palmetto Fellows and LIFE Scholarship recipients majoring in science or math fields. To receive the Enhancement, a student must be a second year student or beyond and meet first-year requirements.

 General Eligibility

  • Receiving either a LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
  • Be a second, third or fourth year student. Please note that this program is based on number of academic years, regardless of credit hours completed.
  • Have declared a Science or Math major in an eligible program before the first day of Fall semester
  • Completed the first-year requirements during the first academic year.
  • Eligibility for an Enhancement Scholarship will automatically be determined after Spring grades are posted and LIFE or Palmetto Fellows eligibility has been determined. There is no application.

 Eligible Programs

  • Astrophysics
  • Astronomy
  • Biochemistry
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Information Systems
  • Computer Science
  • Computing in the Arts
  • Data Science
  • Exercise Science
  • Geology
  • Marine Biology
  • Mathematics
  • Meteorology (eligible program for students that graduated high school May/June 2017 and after)
  • Middle Level Education with a Concentration in both Math and Science
  • Physics
  • Public Health
    • Please be advised: HEAL 215 and HEAL 230 are the only HEAL courses currently approved through SC Commission on Higher Education as approved coursework towards the 14 hour requirement for Enhancement eligibility.
  • Systems Engineering (eligible program for students that graduated high school May/June 2019 and after)
  • Environmental Geosciences (eligible program for students that graduated high school May/June 2021 and after)
  • Electrical Engineering (eligible program for students that graduated high school May/June 2022 and after)
  • Software Engineering (eligible program for students that graduated high school May/June 2022 and after)
  • Statistics (eligible program for students that graduated high school May/June 2022 and after)

First-Year Requirements

  • Complete at least 14 hours in math and natural science courses during the first year of enrollment.
  • The first-year of enrollment includes the fall, spring and summer semesters.
  • To meet the first-year requirements, students can use credits from AP/IB/CLEP, high school dual enrollment, courses taken the summer before the first year and courses taken as pass/fail. Please note that although these types of courses count towards the first-year requirements for an enhancement, they do not count towards meeting the renewal criteria of Palmetto Fellows.
    Developmental, remedial and non-degree (does not apply towards graduation) courses do not count for the first-year requirements.
  • The complete list with all of the College of Charleston's math and natural science courses approved by CHE can be downloaded in Excel format from College of Charleston Science and Math Courses.