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2023 Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Prices
There are so many trade school programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house.
The Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina ranking is one of many tools that Trade College Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 20 schools in South Carolina to see which programs offered the best value experiences for trade school students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
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Top Value Trade Schools in South Carolina
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named Trident Technical College the best value school in South Carolina for trade school students working on their degree. This fairly large public school is located in Charleston, South Carolina, and it awarded 2,581 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Trident Technical College are $8,606 per year.
Trident Technical College did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Trade Schools in South Carolina list.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Greenville Technical College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina list. This fairly large public school is located in Greenville, South Carolina, and it awarded 2,125 degrees in 2021-2022.
GTC undergraduate students pay an average of $10,202 in tuition and fees each year.
The excellent programs at Spartanburg Community College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value trade schools in South Carolina. Spartanburg Community College is a public institution located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1,057 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Spartanburg Community College are $9,822 per year.
Spartanburg Community College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Trade Schools in South Carolina list.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Florence-Darlington Technical College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina list. Florence-Darlington Technical College is a small public school situated in Florence, South Carolina. It awarded 651 degrees in 2021-2022.
Florence-Darlington Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,772 in tuition and fees each year.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Piedmont Technical College is a great place for trade school students who want to get the most value for their educational dollar. Located in Greenwood, South Carolina, the medium-sized public school handed out 1,653 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Piedmont Technical College are $6,593 per year.
Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina ranking. This small public school is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and it awarded 697 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at OCtech are $7,970 per year.
Aiken Technical College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina ranking. This small public school is located in Graniteville, South Carolina, and it awarded 328 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Aiken Technical College are $6,880 per year.
Tri-County Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for trade school students. It came in at #8 on the list. This medium-sized public school is located in Pendleton, South Carolina, and it awarded 2,449 degrees in 2021-2022.
TCTC undergraduate students pay an average of $10,832 in tuition and fees each year.
Horry-Georgetown Technical College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina list. Conway, South Carolina is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 1,602 students in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Horry-Georgetown Technical College are $8,593 a year.
York Technical College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina ranking. York Technical College is a public institution located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1,350 degrees in 2021-2022.
York Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $10,824 in tuition and fees each year.
Midlands Technical College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina ranking. MTC is a medium-sized public school situated in West Columbia, South Carolina. It awarded 1,543 degrees in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at MTC are $13,812 a year.
Clemson University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Located in Clemson, South Carolina, the large public school awarded 7,469 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
Clemson undergraduate students pay an average of $39,502 in tuition and fees each year.
Clemson not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Trade Schools in South Carolina list.
Central Carolina Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for trade school students. It came in at #13 on the list. Central Carolina is a small public school situated in Sumter, South Carolina. It awarded 635 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Central Carolina are $9,016 per year.
Technical College of the Lowcountry ranked #14 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina list. Technical College of the Lowcountry is a small public school located in Beaufort, South Carolina that handed out 314 degrees in 2021-2022.
TCL undergraduate students pay an average of $11,020 in tuition and fees each year.
University of South Carolina - Columbia ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina list. UofSC is a large public school situated in Columbia, South Carolina. It awarded 10,045 degrees in 2021-2022.
UofSC undergraduate students pay an average of $33,928 in tuition and fees each year.
South University, Columbia came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in South Carolina ranking. South University, Columbia is located in Columbia, South Carolina and has a very small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 154 degrees to qualified students.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at South University, Columbia are $16,560 a year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, South University, Columbia is ranked #3 for overall quality in South Carolina.
South Carolina State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for trade school students. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, the small public school awarded 420 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at South Carolina State University are $21,750 per year.
Charleston Southern University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Charleston Southern University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Charleston, South Carolina that handed out 800 degrees in 2021-2022.
CSU undergraduate students pay an average of $29,790 in tuition and fees each year.
CSU not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Trade Schools in South Carolina list.
Newberry College landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Newberry College is located in Newberry, South Carolina and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 271 degrees to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Newberry College are $29,100 per year.
Miller-Motte College Charleston did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for trade school students. It came in at #20 on the list. MMC Charleston is located in Charleston, South Carolina and has a very small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 214 degrees to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MMC Charleston are $0 per year.
Best Value Trade Schools in the Southeast Region
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More South Carolina Rankings
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 20 schools only.
References
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.