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A. General
1) Lowercase the when making formal reference to the University of South Carolina. Capitalize University when referring informally to USC. When using the name as a stand-alone title or referring to the University in a tabular list or address, omit the.
More than 350 degree programs are offered at the University of South Carolina.
More than 350 degree programs are offered at the University.
2) Shorter form written reference to the University as USC is acceptable. Do not use periods or word spaces between the letters.
B. Campuses
1) When referring to all eight campuses, the use of system is no longer acceptable, except in certain legal statements. The name University of South Carolina or the University is officially defined as a reference to all campuses.
2) Formal written reference to a campus should consist of University of South Carolina followed by a word space and the name of the individual campus. USC may be used in place of University of South Carolina for a more informal reference to a campus. Do not use a hyphen, dash, or comma before the campus name. Do not use prepositions such as in or at.
University of South Carolina Columbia or USC Columbia
University of South Carolina Aiken or USC Aiken
University of South Carolina Beaufort or USC Beaufort
Campuses other than Columbia may refer to themselves informally with the use of initials as a second reference: USCA, USCB, USCS. Periods or word spaces should not be used between the letters.
3) The Columbia campus may be referred to as the University of South Carolina’s main campus. The primary designation shall be the University of South Carolina Columbia.
4) Aiken, Beaufort, and Upstate may be referred to as senior or four-year campuses.
5) Lancaster, Salkehatchie, Sumter, and Union may be referred to as regional campuses. They should not be referred to as two-year or branch campuses.
6) When referring informally to any campus, do not capitalize the word campus.
The Sumter campus will hold graduation ceremonies on May 7.
Funds were sought for renovations on the USC Beaufort campus.
Note: With this language, USC and the University become the official reference for all eight campuses. A particular campus should be referred to in one of the ways noted above.
C. Named Schools
1) Use Moore School of Business for all standard references. The full name--The Darla Moore School of Business--should be used only for formal occasions (e.g., commencement) for legal purposes. Moore School is an acceptable second reference.
2) Use Arnold School of Public Health for all standard references. The full name--The Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health-- should be used only for formal occasions (e.g., commencement) or for legal purposes. Arnold School is an acceptable second reference.
3) The with an initial capital "T" is part of the official name of The Graduate School.
