Engaged Students

PC is a great place for students with wide-ranging interests and an active sense of curiosity. Students develop a close relationship with their professors as they explore critical issues, pursue internships, conduct research, and travel abroad...

A World of Ideas

• PC’s commitment to service in the community begins with students’ arrival on campus.  As part of the orientation process, new students take part in a community-service project. PC also requires all students to participate in an intercultural experience, an internship, or a study-abroad experience as part of general education requirements. Students have had local internships in banks, hotels, hospitals, and law offices, and the college collaborates with Millekin, a large textile company, to provide students with an integrated internship and leadership training experience. Some students have ventured to Washington, DC, to intern for the National Geographic Society and to Atlanta to intern for CNN and Delta Air Lines.

• Study abroad is available during the semester or during PC’s “May-mester.” Professors develop the May term programs of study, and past “May-mester” learning programs have traveled to Vietnam, Europe, South America, and Ireland. There are currently fifteen different learning trips, and the program keeps expanding to offer more in the future. A partnership with Ghuizhou University in China offers students opportunities to study Chinese language and history on campus and then travel to China with faculty for immersion in Chinese culture. The Cuba study program is one of only fifteen in the country. Traveling to and studying about Cuba has allowed PC to provide students with a very unique experience while attending a small liberal arts institution. PC is also the only liberal arts college in the country to have been selected to host a Confucius Institute.

• Exposing students to other cultures comes to life in a living learning environment residence hall named Carol International House. Students are chosen to live in CIH and are offered numerous programming opportunities to understand world cultures at a deep level.

• The most emphasized type of experiential learning at PC is performing service. Whether in a children’s home, at the Special Olympics, or at a local school, mentoring students, 80 percent of PC students participate in service projects. Recently, students have rolled up their sleeves to work with a Habitat for Humanity house on McMillian Street in Clinton. About 43 percent of the student body has gone Greek, and as one would imagine, these organizations have strong connections to numerous service organizations.

Great Teaching

PC’s academic program is unlike any other. It combines a strong foundation in the liberal arts and a commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry and real world relevance, giving students the best in education and career preparation...

Think Outside of the Box

• Some popular majors at PC include business administration, premed, history, and music. Many history majors are pre-law, and are able to intern in the local area with circuit court judges.

• Professors have noted that they chose to teach at PC because of the high amount of contact with their students. In the first year, students participate in a seminar with twelve other freshman students led by a faculty member who will become their advisor. Of the professors at PC, 95 percent hold terminal degrees in their field, and PC has had six professors receive the CASE Professor of the Year award—more than any other school in South Carolina.

• Students have many opportunities to perform research on their own or with a professor, a process that begins with open dialogue with professors who act as mentors and help students develop a field of interest. There is also a Summer Fellows Research program which provides stipends for students to work very closely with faculty in a concentrated manner on various research projects. Many of our students present their research at national professional conferences. All departments have opportunities for honors research.

• The faculty-student relationships at PC are expressly unique. There are many evenings that students are invited to dine at faculty homes in a very informal manner. Students feel comfortable stopping by a professor’s office because they know that professor cares about them as an individual. Lifelong friendships with faculty are developed while students are at PC.

Vibrant Community

An award-winning residential life staff, Division I athletics, and a multitude of community service programs are just a few of the things that make PC students feel right at home...

Something for Everyone

• Incoming students take a pledge that begins, “On my honor, I will abstain from all deceit . . .,” and professors testify that this oath of honor weighs heavily on students’ choices. The honor code affects the campus atmosphere by giving students the freedom to trust one another. Because of this honor code, professors will often allow students to take tests back to their rooms to complete, and a PC student doesn’t think twice about the safety of his or her laptop if it is left in the library during mealtime.

• There are five traditional residence halls on campus: two freshman halls, one men’s hall, and four apartment-style halls for upperclassmen. Students can also choose to live in the Carol International House, a living-and-learning residence hall with a goal of promoting cultural awareness.

• PC strives to truly be a part of the community. To foster this relationship, PC has moved its bookstore downtown, and allows all events on campus to be open to the surrounding community, including the renowned Russell Program, a lecture series on different aspects of the media.

Successful Outcomes

A degree from PC provides students with a great foundation for success after college. The electronic portfolio serves as an invaluable resource because it paints a more complete picture of a student’s skills and academic accomplishments than a transcript or resume...

Get There with a Degree from PC.

• PC graduates have proven that the program at PC has opened many doors and avenues to endless possibilities. Presbyterian College alumni were valedictorians in recent years at the Medical University of South Carolina. A recent graduate received a full fellowship to study in the doctoral program of economics at Duke University. Penn State will welcome a recent PC graduate into its acoustical engineering program, as the Annenberg School of Journalism at University of Southern Cal welcomes another recent graduate into its magazine journalism school. In 2006, all three seniors applying for entrance into the highly selective School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia were accepted. Mercer Law School offered their full Woodruff Fellowship to a 2007 PC graduate.

• PC students are equipped to be productive citizens in this global society, and graduates are very successful in many careers. But above all that, service is a big part of the PC experience. Washington Monthly has recognized PC for the past several years as one of the top 25 colleges in the country for the service to community provided by its alumni.