The university's beginnings were as the
South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical Institute in 1872 in compliance with the 1862
Land Grant Act within the institution of Claflin College—now known as
Claflin University. In 1896 the South Carolina General Assembly passed an act of separation and established a separate institution – the
Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College of South Carolina, its official name until 1954.
1920s–1940s Academic programs received more attention as the student population increased, but other programs, such as the university's high school, were forced to close due to the
Great Depression. The
New Deal Programs were used to create, among other things, Wilkinson Hall, the university's first separate library building (now home to Admissions and Financial Aid).
1940s–1950s The college's campus grew, as it purchased over for agricultural learning. After World War II, many students flocked to the college, creating a classroom shortage problem for the school. In 1947, the
United States Army created an
ROTC detachment, in which all male students were required to enroll until mandatory enrollment ended in 1969. The school's name changed, as well, as the South Carolina General Assembly renamed the school
South Carolina State College in 1954. Because of the "separate but equal" laws in the state, the legislature gave the college large sums of money to build new academic facilities and dormitories, some of which still stand on the campus today, including the Student Union (1954), and Turner Hall (1956). This was done in order to give black students an environment of "equal" education. Also, the legislature created a law program for the college, mainly to prevent black students from attending the
law school at the then-segregated
University of South Carolina. The law program folded in 1966 after the University of South Carolina integrated.
1960s–1980s During the height of the
Civil Rights Movement, many students participated in marches and rallies aimed at ending segregation. The struggle came to a climax on the night on February 8, 1968, when three students were killed and 27 others were wounded by state policemen at the height of a protest that opposed the segregation of a nearby bowling alley. The tragedy, known as the
Orangeburg massacre, is commemorated by a memorial plaza near the front of the campus. From the late-1960s to the mid-1980s, under the leadership of M. Maceo Nance, the campus experienced unprecedented growth in the form of new academic buildings, such as Nance Hall (1974) and Belcher Hall (1986), new residence halls, such as
Sojourner Truth Hall (1972), which, at 14 stories, is the tallest building in Orangeburg County, and a new library building (1968), not to mention enlargements and renovations of existing facilities. The school also opened the I.P. Stanback Museum & Planetarium, which is the only facility of its kind on a historically black university campus in the United States. After Nance's retirement in 1986, Albert Smith assumed the office of the school's president and, among other achievements, created an honors college in 1988.
1990s During the tenure of Smith, the school also gained university status from the South Carolina General Assembly, becoming South Carolina State University in February 1992. In 1993,
Barbara Hatton became the school's first female president and created many improvements for the campus, such as the 1994 renovation of Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium, constructing new suites and a larger press box, as well as increasing its capacity to 22,000. Hatton also spearheaded the creation of a plaza which resides in front of the Student Union and passes by several dorms and buildings in the central portion of the campus. Under SC State's next president, Leroy Davis, South Carolina State University celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1996, and the school constructed a Fine Arts Center in 1999, giving the Art and Music departments a new home.
2000–present Under the leadership of
Andrew Hugine Jr., the school constructed a new 771-bed residence hall (Hugine Suites), which is the largest dormitory in South Carolina. The first four buildings in Phase One opened on August 26, 2006, and the last two in the first phase opened on September 10, 2006. With the opening of the new dorms, SC State has closed the following dorms, Bethea (freshmen male), Miller (female), Bradham (female), and Manning (female) Halls. Both Bradham and Manning Halls had been used since the World War I era, Miller Hall is being closed due to fire alarm system malfunctions, and Bethea is being closed after 50 years of service due to numerous building and health problems. Bethea Hall will be torn down to make way for a new $33 million complex for the School of Engineering. The dining halls, both Washington Dining Hall and "The Pitt", located in the Student Union, received major facelifts, and the dining hall inside Truth Hall has been renovated into a cyber cafe, Pete's Arena. The university is also working to renovate Lowman Hall, which, when refurbished, will be the new administration building. South Carolina State recently broke ground on the new
James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center (UTC), which will be home to the only UTC in South Carolina, one of only three among
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and one of only 33 total UTCs in the nation. Currently work is being done to expand Hodge Hall. This science building will be gaining some much needed research and laboratory space. South Carolina State hosted the first debate of the 2008
Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Debate series. This event, which took place on April 26, 2007, at the Martin Luther King Auditorium, was televised nationally on
MSNBC. This debate made SC State the first historically black university to host a presidential candidate debate on its campus. Hugine's contract was terminated by the SC State Board of Trustees on December 11, 2007, only four days before the Fall Commencement Exercises, by a telephone conference meeting. According to the board, his reasons for dismissal were a performance review for the 2006–2007 school year and a second education review. The board decided to conduct a national search for a new president immediately. On December 13, 2007, the board selected Leonard McIntyre, the Dean of the College of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences at SC State to serve as interim president. Hugine was the fourth president to leave SC State since Nance retired in 1986. George Cooper, formerly with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, assumed the presidency of S.C. State on July 16, 2008, and was the tenth president. The SC State Board of Trustees voted to terminate Cooper's contract on June 15, 2010. John E. Smalls, senior vice president of finance, was appointed to lead the university in the interim. President Cooper was reinstated two weeks later after a change in board membership. His predecessor, Andrew Hugine, Jr., who was also dismissed and sued the university, eventually accepting $60,000 to drop his suit for defamation and breach of contract. Hugine, now president of
Alabama A&M University, sought $1-million from South Carolina State and $2-million from the trustees who voted to oust him. In 2021, President
Joe Biden visited Orangeburg to deliver a commencement address at South Carolina State. On October 5, 2025, two unrelated shootings happened on campus during homecoming weekend. One person was killed and two people injured. A 18-year-old suspect was arrested and charged in the shooting death. On
Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2026, the flag of S.C. State flew above the
South Carolina State House, to recognize S.C. State's defeat of
Prairie View A&M University in the
Celebration Bowl. This was the first time the flag of any
historically Black college or university flew above the South Carolina State House. ==Academics==