Technical College
of the Lowcountry
Public Community College in Beaufort, SC. Six-year graduation rate 18%. Median 10-year earnings $35,090.
Students who entered Technical College of the Lowcountry reach a median of $35,090 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Completion is the weak point: 18% graduate within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $10,000 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 18% — below national average
Academics
Completion is the problem here: 18% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 58% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. 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 27% 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. Retention drops to 40% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,697 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $15,776 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Income makes less difference than usual: $14,531 at $0–30k, $20,323 at $48–75k. About 73% get grants averaging $8,260, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 10% 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 · 190 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 | $14,531 |
| $30–48k | $15,726 |
| $48–75k | $20,323 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 163 of these 1,697 students, totalling $1,070,009 — an average of $6,564 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Beaufort 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)