Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
COLUMBIA — Columbia International University is proposing three new student apartment buildings on its campus near the Broad River. The buildings would add 336 new beds to the campus. The university is asking for a special zoning exception to build the new buildings . The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals is expected to vote on the proposal on Nov. 6. Each dorm would be four stories, with six four-bedroom units per floor for a total of 336 new beds, according to city documents. The new dorms would be adjacent to five existing dorms on the university’s Monticello Road campus, near the banks of the Broad River. Each apartment would also include two bathrooms, a kitchen, a den and a sunroom. The new construction is valued at $19 million, according to the application from the university. Columbia International University is a private Christian university founded in 1923. Online and in-person enrollment was 3,200 in fall 2025, up 10 percent from the previous school year, according to the university’s website. Much of the enrollment growth has come in the school’s nursing and mental health programs, according to the website.
