Building math: low debt equals low tuition costs

Bricks and mortar do not a great education make, but how they’re paid for can make a big difference.

At Francis Marion University we prefer to pay for them up front.

Unlike most universities, we don’t carry debt on any of our academic structures. We prefer not to take money from today’s students to pay for tomorrow’s buildings. We’d rather raise the money privately when new buildings are needed, then open them debt free.  So, for the past two decades, that’s just what we’ve done.

That’s one of the big factors in our status as South Carolina’s most affordable university. Our net cost of attendance – all tuition and fees, minus the average financial award our students receive – is well below that of most of our peers.

So a new adage: debt-free bricks and mortar do a great education make.