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The
County has five autonomous school districts, each governed by its own
elected board of trustees. They are: District One, Lexington; District
Two, Brookland-Cayce; District Three, Batesburg-Leesville; District
Four, Swansea-Gaston; and District Five, Irmo-Chapin. The Airport and
Harbison campuses of Midlands Technical College are also located in
Lexington County. South Carolina has placed a major emphasis on the
primary and secondary school systems with the enactment of Educational
Improvement Act and Target 2000. Lexington County reported 23,355 graduates
in the spring of 1988. Of those graduating at that time, 67% entered
into college or some other form of post-secondary education. The County
also had the highest percentage of high school students that went directly
into post secondary education after graduating in the State in the Fall
of 1995 at 77.2%. This is above the state average of 54.5%.
The County has a very low private school enrollment for grades K-12,
which is a result of the excellent quality of the public school system,
whose individual schools regularly place among the top schools in the
State academically at all levels. Lexington County also has a very low
percentage of dropouts from grades 9-12, with only 2.5% of students
in the 1994-95 school year.
Lexington
County has only two satellite campuses of Midlands Technical College
– a two year technical institution located within its borders, but it
is fortunate to have a wide range of institutions of higher education
within close driving range. Newberry College, Allen University, Benedict
College, Columbia International University, Columbia College, and the
Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary are all private four year senior
colleges that are located nearby. Midlands Technical College’s main
campus is located within the City of Columbia. Lexington County is very
fortunate to have the University of South Carolina’s main campus located
close by in Columbia as well, which is an institution with a national
and international reputation for excellence.
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