Update December 24, no deal: Despite months of behind the scenes work to find a way for South Carolina to get the $143 million, no deal happened.

McClatchy is reporting that Texas is the only other state in the nation to find itself in a similar predicament. 

Take a read of the news network's report over here.

First reporting August 17: The State is reporting that South Carolina's bid for $143.4 million in federal education stimulus dollars won't come as our state fell short of required funding levels of high education.

Read their update here.

Interestingly, there's recently been a flack about how quickly South Carolina public colleges have been raising tuition as state funding has been cut.