Benedict College plans residence hall in Columbia, S.C.

From The Columbia State: Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. plans to build a 100-suite residence hall capable of housing nearly 400 students. The $15 million, four-story facility, which will be situated next to Benedict’s football stadium, will enable the historically black college to stop housing students in apartment complexes that are a 15-minute shuttle ride away from campus. Benedict’s enrollment has grown by 26 percent in the past seven years — adding 661 students to total about 3,200. Benedict tried housing 250 students in a vacant hotel in 2009, but the building did not meet Richland County fire codes.