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Community colleges in South Carolina

There are 12 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in South Carolina reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $7,558 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in South Carolina, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in South Carolina

  1. Horry-Georgetown Technical CollegeConway$4,468
  2. Trident Technical CollegeCharleston$4,546
  3. Florence-Darlington Technical CollegeFlorence$4,636
  4. Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia$5,100
  5. Aiken Technical CollegeGraniteville$5,174

Full South Carolina cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in South Carolina

  1. Trident Technical CollegeCharleston10,512
  2. Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia7,564
  3. Horry-Georgetown Technical CollegeConway6,274
  4. Florence-Darlington Technical CollegeFlorence3,055
  5. Aiken Technical CollegeGraniteville1,925

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. University of South Carolina-LancasterLancaster52%
  2. University of South Carolina-SumterSumter35%
  3. University of South Carolina-SalkehatchieAllendale34%
  4. University of South Carolina-UnionUnion28%
  5. Technical College of the LowcountryBeaufort27%

South Carolina transfer guide →

All 12 community colleges in South Carolina

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Aiken Technical CollegeGraniteville1,925$5,174
Florence-Darlington Technical CollegeFlorence3,055$4,636
Galen Health Institutes-Myrtle BeachMyrtle Beach743$16,364
Horry-Georgetown Technical CollegeConway6,274$4,468
Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia7,564$5,100
Spartanburg Methodist CollegeSpartanburg1,116$20,650
Technical College of the LowcountryBeaufort1,679$6,156
Trident Technical CollegeCharleston10,512$4,546
University of South Carolina-LancasterLancaster668$7,558
University of South Carolina-SalkehatchieAllendale271$7,558
University of South Carolina-SumterSumter716$7,558
University of South Carolina-UnionUnion270$7,558

About community college in South Carolina

South Carolina's 12 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any South Carolina community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in South Carolina routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. South Carolina's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.