Presbyterian College is a private, 4-year liberal arts institution
located in Clinton, South Carolina. Founded in 1880 as Clinton College
by a Presbyterian minister, the college is affiliated with the
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. For the last two years the Fiske Guide to
Colleges has named Presbyterian College as a Best Buy School, meaning it
offers outstanding academics at moderate tuition rates.
The college is situated on a beautiful 240 acre campus with a lake.
Several of Presbyterian College’s oldest structures, including the bell
tower, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Enrollment is approximately 1,200 students, and there is a low
instructor/student ratio. The college offers dorm and apartment housing,
and 95% of the student body lives on campus. Students may participate
in more than 70 clubs and organizations. They may choose from academic
organizations, service organizations, social groups, religious
organizations, fine arts groups, student government, and intramural
sports. Student may choose communications options such as the newspaper,
yearbook staff, or the campus radio station. There are eight national
fraternities and four sororities on campus. There is also Army ROTC.
Students may earn degrees in 31 majors. Presbyterian College has a
number of pre-professional programs including pre-dental, pre-med,
pre-pharmacy, and pre-law. There is a dual degree engineering program in
cooperation with Clemson, Auburn, and Vanderbilt Universities as well
as the University of South Carolina. The five year program allows
students to complete three years of course work at Presbyterian College
and then transfer to one of the cooperative universities in their chosen
engineering discipline. There is a dual degree program in
Forestry/Environmental Science with Duke University and a dual degree
program in Religion with Union Theological Seminary. Presbyterian
College has a new School of Pharmacy which opened in 2010. All students
are required to have an undergraduate research, study abroad, or
internship experience before graduation.
Presbyterian College athletes play NCAA Division I sports in the Big
South Conference. There are seven varsity sports for men and eight
varsity sports for women. Men compete in baseball, basketball, football,
golf, soccer, tennis, and cross country. Women compete in basketball,
cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, and volleyball.
Presbyterian College has an unusual mascot. A Scotsman dressed in a
kilt with blue stockings is called the “Blue Hose.”
In 2009 Presbyterian College launched the Confucius Institute, in
partnership with Guizhou University in China and the Office of Chinese
Language Council International. This is one of 60 such programs in the
U.S. The goal of the institute is to foster business and cultural
exchanges between China and the Upstate community, as well as to support
the teaching of the Chinese language in grades K-12. Presbyterian
College is proud to be the only liberal arts college in the nation to
have such a program.
