A 180-year-old private South Carolina university is closing after a $6M fundraising drive fails

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A 180-year-old private Christian university in South Carolina is closing at the end of the semester after failing to raise $6 million to keep its doors open.

Limestone University officials said that after two weeks of furious fundraising and other actions, they collected just a little over $2 million and had no choice but to close its Gaffney campus and online programs.

The school had lost about half its enrollment in the past decade.

''Our Limestone spirit will endure through the lives of our students and alumni who carry it forward into the world,'' said Randall Richardson, chair of Limestone University's trustees. ''Though our doors may close, the impact of Limestone University will live on.''

The university stunned its students, alums and community when it announced earlier in April without warning that it was in such bad financial shape that without an immediate infusion of $6 million it would have to close.

More than 200 people gave a total of about $2.1 million, but it was not enough. The university said the donations will be returned.

South Carolina lawmakers decided not to step in because Limestone University is a private institution.

Dozens of private colleges and universities like Limestone have closed in recent years. They are coping with steep declines in enrollment, a consequence of both changing demographics and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Limestone University's online and in-person enrollment had dropped from about 3,200 students in 2014 to about 1,600, according to state higher education data. Limestone University promised to help students transfer to other schools.

The closure will also leave several hundred professors and support staff without jobs in Gaffney, a city of about 12,500 people on Interstate 85 between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Spartanburg, South Carolina.

About 50 students gathered outside where trustees met Tuesday night and hugged as they got the email announcing the university was closing.

Daniel Deneen Jr. of Myrtle Beach played football for Limestone and was jarred that he had to change his plans for his education.

''When we found out the school had $30 million in debt, we all wondered how they were going to get out of it. The last two weeks have been very stressful with finals coming up this week,'' Deneen told The Post and Courier.

Limestone University, founded in 1845, will hold its final commencement Saturday.

Limestone isn't the only college in the region to announce it is closing this month.

St. Andrews University about 150 miles away in Laurinburg, North Carolina, will close Sunday after the spring semester. The school is a branch campus of Webber International University.