Midlands Technical College
Public Community College in West Columbia, SC. Six-year graduation rate 18%. Median 10-year earnings $38,701.
Ten-year median earnings of $38,701 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 18% graduate within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $12,000.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.31 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 18% — below national average
Academics
Only 18% finish within six years, so roughly four in five students leave without the credential. Just 49% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. A 26% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Part-time students fare worse, returning at 33% — relevant if you plan to work while enrolled.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,473 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $5,675 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($3,429 versus $9,503), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. 79% of students receive grant aid, averaging $5,292 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 17% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,378 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $3,429 |
| $30–48k | $3,549 |
| $48–75k | $5,157 |
| $75–110k | $8,378 |
| $110k+ | $9,503 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,263 of these 7,473 students, totalling $5,444,627 — an average of $4,311 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Lexington County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)