Dive Brief:

• South Carolina State University is about a month away from “financial disaster,” according to the head of the university’s trustee budget panel.
• The committee chairman, Katon Dawson, says the university won’t be able to meet its $2.26 million payroll next month for its 1,045 employees unless state legislators provide the school with money.
• The shortfall for next month will be about $1 million, the Times and Democrat reported.

Dive Insight:

Dawson said that university was able to meet payroll this month, thanks to a $1.3 million commission payment from its dining services contractor, Sodexo, which initially balked at the payment because South Carolina State owes it $2.3 million. The university needs about $13.6 million for bills that will accumulate until the end of its fiscal year, and it owes $6.1 million for outstanding bills since August 2013. One nugget of good news for the school is that student applications for the 2014-2015 school year are up to 5,527 from last year's 2,178.