The University of South Carolina Lancaster is a public university located in Lancaster. It is one of the 4 regional USC campuses and is currently a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredited two-year school in the USC System. Over 1,000 students attend the University at its campus in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. The University of South Carolina conducted a program in the 1950s to expand its reach across the state of South Carolina. Five extension campuses were established and one branch was set up in Lancaster because it was the center of a six county region (Chester, Chesterfield, Fairfield, Lancaster, Kershaw, and York) in the Piedmont. The University commenced classes in an old house in downtown Lancaster, but growth soon forced it to find a larger facility. With the generous support of the local community, the University moved to a tract of land on the northern limits of Lancaster. Six buildings serve as the campus for the University and associate's degrees are offered in the Technical Nursing, Criminal Justice and Business.