Orangeburg Calhoun
Technical College
Public Community College in Orangeburg, SC. Six-year graduation rate 32%. Median 10-year earnings $35,761.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $35,761, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is the weak point: 32% graduate within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,562.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.30 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 32% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 32% graduate within six years. 66% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. 18% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The part-time picture is harder: 31% return, against 66% full-time.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,564 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $6,912 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $7,122 at $0–30k against $6,853 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Grant aid is widespread — 91% of students receive it, averaging $6,073. 12% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 238 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 | $7,122 |
| $30–48k | $5,679 |
| $48–75k | $4,842 |
| $75–110k | $5,737 |
| $110k+ | $6,853 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 191 of these 1,564 students, totalling $859,013 — an average of $4,497 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orangeburg 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)