Dive Brief:

• South Carolina State University will receive a $6-million loan from the state, but it remains to be seen how the school will cover the rest of its estimated $13.6-million deficit through June 30.
• The university has $1.5 million in the bank, or less than half of what it needs to pay its payroll for 1,045 employees, utility bills, and bond debt in May.
• The terms of loan require the school, South Carolina’s only historically black public college, to pay its bond debt first, then its payroll and other bills. 

Dive Insight:

If the university finds the money to pay its bills through its fiscal year, which ends June 30, it’s not clear how it will pay its expenses moving forward. Other conditions of the loan include a requirement for the university to verify the validity of its contracts before payments are made, for trustees to adopt an anti-nepotism policy and sign a conflict of interest statement, and for the university to seek federal approval. Also, three S.C. State foundations will provide three years of audited financial statements, along with records of transactions with the university, trustees, employees, and immediate family members of current or former foundation employees or trustees. The school had diverted more than $6 million from one of the foundations to cover its deficits. S.C. State has more than $8 million in unpaid bills, but no services have been cut. Enrollment has dropped more than 25% in recent years, but the university hasn’t cut related expenses.