The story
Erskine College was founded by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1839. Prior to this time the church had established an academy for men in Due West, S.C., in 1835, and a seminary in 1837. The academy became Erskine College, the first four-year church-related college in South Carolina. It was named for Ebenezer Erskine, a pastor and one of the founders of one of the antecedent bodies of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Erskine had led a group of separatists from the Church of Scotland to found an Associate Presbytery.
Erskine began to admit women in 1894 and officially became coeducational in 1899. In 1927, it merged with Due West Female College, founded in 1859. In 1929, Bryson College closed and merged with Erskine College.
A planned merger of the college, the seminary, and the Due West Woman's College paved the way for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges in 1925. By 1927 the three schools had merged into one institution called Erskine College, with the seminary serving as its graduate theological school.
During World War II Erskine served as a cadet training school for the United States Army Air Corps. A substantial enrollment effort in the late 1950s brought Erskine's undergraduate enrollment to over 700 students throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. In 2014, Erskine celebrated 175 years as a Christian academic community, and in the 2022–2023 school year, enrollment was at an all-time high of 830 undergraduate and 137 graduate seminary students.
On March 11, 2014, a website article on Outsports detailed the coming out of two gay male players on the college's volleyball team. On February 27, 2015, Erskine College released a statement that students are expected to "follow the teachings of scripture concerning matters of human sexuality."
Accreditation issues
Erskine was placed on "warning" status by its accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, following its decennial accreditation review in December 2013. The college's status was reviewed in December 2014, and the sanction was then escalated to "Probation" status, due to continued failure to comply with accreditation standards related to fiscal stability and institutional effectiveness in student learning outcomes. SACSCOC removed all accreditation sanctions and reaffirmed Erskine's regional accreditation in December 2015.
In 2023, Erskine was once again placed on "warning" status following review. SACS cited financial issues and board control as determining factors. Steve Adamson, president of Erskine, said he fully expected "to have the warning lifted in December 2023 and the institution’s reaffirmation granted." However, in December 2023, Erskine was continued on warning status. In January 2025, Erskine College's accreditation was reaffirmed with all sanctions removed and no monitoring required. The college has its next SACSCOC accreditation scheduled for 2032.
Charter schools
In 2017, Erskine College began sponsoring charter schools in South Carolina through the Charter Institute at Erskine. The president of Erskine College serves as the chairman of the institute, while Cameron Runyan serves as superintendent and CEO.
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The Charter Institute attracted media attention in 2024, when it formed Teach Right USA, a nonprofit which shares leadership with the institute and sought to found charter schools sponsored by the institute. Through the nonprofit, leaders of the institute explored starting charter schools in Tennessee. State legislators requested information to determine of state funds or hours were used in the endeavor.
In 2021, Erskine College loaned one million dollars to a for-profit charter school management organization, which defaulted on their loan, ultimately only repaying $35,000. The transaction was not made public until 2024, when Erskine filed a lawsuit seeking to recover the full amount.
From Wikipedia’s article on Erskine College, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5