Prepared: July 2012
By: Debbie Dunning for Football Media Guide
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
University founder Thomas Green Clemson was born in 1807 in Philadelphia,
Penn., and educated in the United States and Europe. A champion of formal scientific
education, he had a lifelong interest in agricultural affairs and in the business of farming.
He came to the South Carolina Foothills when, in 1838, he married Anna Maria
Calhoun, daughter of famous statesman John C. Calhoun.
In the post-Civil War days of 1865, Clemson looked upon a South that lay in
economic ruin, once remarking, “This country is in wretched condition, no money and
nothing to sell. Everyone is ruined, and those that can are leaving.”
Clemson’s death on April 6, 1888, set in motion a series of events that marked the
start of a new era in higher education in South Carolina. In his will, he bequeathed the
Fort Hill plantation and a considerable sum from his personal assets for the establishment
of an educational institution that would teach scientific agriculture and the mechanical
arts to South Carolina’s young people.
In November 1889, Gov. John Peter Richardson signed the bill accepting
Clemson’s gift, which established the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina,
with its trustees becoming custodians of Morrill Act and Hatch Act funds made available
for agricultural education and research purposes by federal legislative acts.
Although he also is remembered for other accomplishments, Clemson made his
greatest historical contribution when his life became intertwined with the destiny of
educational and economic development in the state.
Clemson College formally opened in July 1893 with an enrollment of 446. From
the beginning, the college was an all-male military school. It remained this way until
1955 when the change was made to “civilian” status for students and Clemson became a
coeducational institution. In 1964, the college was renamed Clemson University as the
state Legislature formally recognized the school’s expanded academic offerings and
research pursuits.
Today, Clemson University is a science- and engineering-oriented research
university that maintains a strong commitment to teaching and student success. An
inclusive, student-centered community, the University is characterized by high academic
standards, a culture of collaboration, a competitive drive to excel and a determination to
make a difference.
The Clemson Education
• U.S.News & World Report ranks Clemson No. 25 among the nation’s top public
universities, No. 4 as an “up-and-coming” school, No. 11 for our commitment to
undergraduate teaching, one of 17 that make writing a priority across all disciplines and
one of 18 that offer strong learning communities.
• Students can select from approximately 80 undergraduate and 110 graduate degree
programs offered by five colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture,
Arts and Humanities; Business and Behavioral Science; Engineering and Science; and
Health, Education and Human Development.
• SmartMoney magazine ranks Clemson No. 6 among the nation’s top public and private
universities whose graduates get the best return on their tuition dollars.
• Kiplinger magazine rates Clemson among the best values in public higher education —
34th for in-state students and 36th for out-of-state students — in its most recent rankings
of the “100 Best Values in Public Colleges.”
• The Princeton Review and USA TODAY include Clemson among the nation’s 75 best
values in public colleges and universities in its guidebook of “Best Value Colleges for
2012.”
• Eight graduate programs within the College of Engineering and Science are among the
nation’s top 40 according to the 2010 edition of U.S.News & World Report guide to
graduate programs.
• The National Research Council ranks 15 Clemson doctoral programs in the top 50
among public universities.
• BusinessWeek ranks Clemson’s undergraduate accounting program No. 13 and the
undergraduate business program No. 34 among public universities in 2012.
• Clemson’s engineering program ranks No. 17 in the nation according to a survey of
corporate recruiters by The Wall Street Journal.
• Diverse Issues in Higher Education recognized Clemson as the eighth top U.S. producer
of African-American engineering B.S. graduates and tied for ninth for Ph.D. graduates.
• Creative Inquiry, a unique Clemson initiative that brings together undergraduate
students and faculty to research important issues that affect our world, is described as a
“best practice in undergraduate research.” In 2011-12, 3,100 undergraduates engaged in
330 CI teams.
• More than half of Clemson classes have 20 or fewer students.
• Ninety-one percent of first-year students reported that Clemson has a substantial
commitment to their academic success on the 2011 National Survey of Student
Engagement.
The Clemson Experience
• The Princeton Review guidebook “The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition” ranks
Clemson No. 1 for good town-gown relations, No. 2 for happiest students, No. 2 in the
“Jock Schools” category, No. 3 for participation in intramural sports, No. 8 for popularity
of intercollegiate sports, No. 9 for career services and No. 11 for the administration’s
ability to smoothly run the University.
• Clemson has more than 400 student organizations active on campus, ranging from
community service and professional development to team sports and cultural enrichment.
• Students have the opportunity to influence campus policy by participating in
undergraduate and graduate student government.
• Clemson’s 17 living-learning communities, rated among the best in the nation, allow
students with common academic interests to live together in the same residence hall
space and have staff, programming and curricular resources dedicated specifically to their
needs.
• The Michelin Career Center offers workshops, on-campus interviewing, co-op and
internship programs, and more. During 2011-12, approximately 2,200 students
participated in academic internships and co-ops.
Clemson Facilities
• To support faculty research as well as the teaching and learning environment, Clemson
provides a cyberinfrastructure that ranks eighth among public U.S. universities on the list
of Top 500 Supercomputing Sites.
• The 35,000-square-foot, three-story Class of 1956 Academic Success Center, located in
the heart of Clemson’s academic campus, is designed to enhance student learning,
academic success and personal growth through tutoring, supplemental instruction,
academic coaching and academic skills workshops. The new center also houses Disability
Services and the Writing Center.
• The newly opened Lee Hall expansion — Lee III — is a showcase academic building
and a model for energy efficiency. Part of a $31.6 million restoration, renovation and
expansion project to house the School of Design and Building, Lee III features exterior
and interior skylights, geothermal radiant heating and cooling, natural ventilation and the
largest university Garden Roof installation in the Southeast.
• Robert Muldrow Cooper Library is a national leader in automated information retrieval.
Its bibliographic records are accessible from anywhere in the world, easing the task of
finding information in its collections, which total more than 1 million items.
• The Hendrix Student Center is a 108,000-square-foot facility that contains a
convenience store, food court, movie theater and bookstore. The center also houses
meeting rooms, a student lounge, the Michelin Career Center, the Gantt Center for
Student Life and student media offices.
• Campus recreation is based out of Fike Recreation Center, which features an eight-lane
swimming pool, a diving tank, two gyms, various weightlifting facilities and rooms for
fitness classes. Indoor and lighted outdoor tennis courts are just across the street at Hoke
Sloan Tennis Center. Outdoor recreation areas include the Campus Beach on Hartwell
Lake and spacious fields on campus for intramural sports.
• As South Carolina’s land-grant university, Clemson has a presence in every county for
outreach and community service, as well as research and education centers at five
locations in the state and on the Caribbean island of Dominica.
The Clemson Faculty
• Clemson’s student-to-faculty ratio of 18-to-1 gives the faculty the opportunity to
interact with students on a one-on-one basis. Critical thinking, problem solving, creative
learning and self-development are just a few of the characteristics emphasized in the
classroom.
• More than 88 percent of the faculty hold the highest degree in their field, and many
have achieved special academic recognition for excellence in the classroom by colleagues
and students.
• Five Clemson educators are profiled in “The Best 300 Professors” by The Princeton
Review in 2012. From an initial list of 42,000 professors considered, the final group of
“best” professors constitutes less than 0.02 percent of the 1.8 million college and
university teachers across the U.S.
• Forty Clemson faculty have been awarded National Science Foundation CAREER
Awards, recognizing young faculty members who are excellent researchers and teachers.
• Sixty-five Clemson faculty members have been elected Fellows of national or
international academic societies since 2000.
• Sixteen endowed-chair faculty positions have been created to attract new, top faculty
through the SmartState Program.
• The growth of Clemson’s research program is reflected in faculty productivity. In FY
2011, sponsored research expenditures reached an all-time high of $107.7 million,
including $95 million in new awards.
The Clemson Student
• Clemson’s total enrollment of 19,914 represents 50 states and 90 foreign countries.
• SAT scores of incoming Clemson freshmen rank among the highest for national public
universities. The 2011 entering freshman class achieved an average SAT score of 1,230,
and almost half graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.
• Calhoun Honors College is home to 1,200 students. The 271 students in the 2011-12
freshman honors class had an average SAT score of 1419 and graduated in the top 3.4
percent of their high school classes.
• The University currently has 11 National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellows, two Goldwater Scholars and three Fulbright Scholars among the student body.
• Clemson students are committed to volunteerism, service-learning and civic
engagement. In 2010-11, 10,017 students contributed 72,793 service hours locally, across
the nation and around the world.
• During 2011-12, approximately 1,000 students studied abroad.
• Clemson graduates find jobs at nearly twice the national average according to the
University’s Michelin Career Center. For 2010-11, 34 percent of Clemson students either
had a full-time job offer in hand or had committed to military service before graduation.
The national average is 18 percent according to the National Association of Colleges and
Employers 2011 report.
• Ninety-two percent of seniors reported that they would choose Clemson again if they
had to do it over, according to the 2011 National Survey of Student Engagement.
General Information
Founded
1889
Total Enrollment (Fall 2011) 19,914
Undergraduate Enrollment (Fall 2011)
15,697
Graduate Enrollment (Fall 2011)
4,217
Freshman Class Enrollment (Fall 2011)
2,935
Average SAT of Fall 2011 Freshmen 1,230
Freshmen in Top-10 Percent of Class 49%
2010 Freshman-Year Retention Rate 90%
Degrees Awarded Dec. 2010-Aug. 2011
4,500
Undergraduate Degree Programs
80
Graduate School Degree Programs 110
Total Faculty Members
1,325