For Release
Jan. 18, 2005

 Accomplishments at The Citadel since 1997

General

• The Citadel has maintained its top rankings for the college and the engineering school in US News & World Report annual rankings. For the past three years, The Citadel has been rated the #2 public college in its category in the South.
• The Citadel maintains the highest four-year graduation rate of any public college in South Carolina. Our four-year graduation rate (60%) is more than twice the national average (29%). In South Carolina public colleges, only Clemson rivals the six-year graduation rate of The Citadel at 71.9%. (Clemson is 72%.)
• SACS (The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) affirmed The Citadel’s accreditation in December 2004 with no follow-ups. (10 years ago there were 41 follow-ups.)
• The Citadel received A-1 rating for its bonds from Moody’s Rating Service in December 2004. (In 1997 Moody’s gave the college a bond rating of A-2 with improved outlook.)
• The Citadel successfully assimilated women into the Corps of Cadets.
• The college and BOV have adopted a strategic plan (2002-2012) and core values that clearly define priorities for character development. The college has aligned its budget and actions with these strategic initiatives and core values.
• The Krause Initiative in Leadership & Ethics launched in 2002 is taking ethics and character development into the classroom, barracks life and all cadet activities in a formal program that holds everyone to the same standards and gets the entire college involved in supporting ethical behavior.

Admissions

• Corps enrollment went from 1735 in 1997 (200 below capacity) to 1813 in 2000 (122 below capacity) to 1964 in 2004 (full capacity). Full enrollment prior to the reopening of PT Barracks was 1935.
• The assimilation of women moved forward with enrollment of women in the Corps of Cadets growing to around 120 for spring semester 2005.
• Admissions applications have set all-time records for three successive years.
• The academic qualifications and average GPAs of entering freshmen have risen steadily.

Academics

• The academic program was reorganized from 18 departments into five schools to streamline administration and boost academic fundraising (2003).
• CGPS (College of Graduate and Professional Studies) enrollment has grown 21% between 1997 and 2004 and the MBA program has nearly doubled in size.

Athletics

• The Citadel won two conference championships last year – wrestling and baseball – while still strictly adhering to the ideal of the cadet student athlete.
  • Cadet varsity athletes have the highest NCAA graduation rate in the state (71%) and football athletes have the best graduation rate in the Southern Conference (94% -- the national average is 54% for 1-AA teams).
  • 100 percent of the black football players graduated (national average 47%).
  • 83 percent of all black athletes graduated (national average 48%).
• The Citadel has gone from no women’s sports to an NCAA Division I program with 7 varsity women’s teams in 7 years.

Facilities

• Barracks: PT Barracks (2004) and Murray Barracks (1999) reconstructed; Law Barracks reconstruction has started this spring.
• Women’s Athletic Facility completed (2003).
• Altman Center completed (2001) with private funding.
• Thompson Hall replaced (2001).
• Holliday Alumni Center completed (2000) with private funding.
• Hollings Hall completed (2000) with private funding.
• The Citadel has raised more than $6 million for a new football stadium and is exploring options of partnering with the city and other entities.

Military

• The percentage of graduating cadets receiving military commissions has increased from 27% in 1997 to 38% in 2004.
• The Citadel has the oldest and largest Marine enlisted commissioning program in the country and one of the largest Army ROTC programs.
• With more than 1900 cadets, The Citadel remains the largest college Corps of Cadets in the country outside of the military academies.
• Military training has been significantly strengthened:
  • Mandatory breakfast reinstated (1997)
  • PT test passage added as a requirement for graduation (1997)
  • Additional Tac officers hired to improve security and compliance with evening study period in the barracks (1998)
  • Leadership and human affairs training structured into organized orientation and refresher classes (1998)

Fundraising

• A capital campaign that began in 2002 and is still in the quiet phase has raised more than $50 million in cash and pledges.
• Annual giving to The Citadel has gone from $2.8 million in 1997 to roughly $12 million in 2004.
• Separate fundraising entities were placed under the umbrella of The Citadel Foundation in 2000 to organize and strengthen the fundraising capabilities of The Citadel.
  

-end-