Trident Technical College
Public Community College in Charleston, SC. Six-year graduation rate 30%. Median 10-year earnings $38,253.
Ten-year median earnings of $38,253 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 30% graduate within six years. Median debt at graduation is $13,029, a light load against those earnings.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.34 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Graduation rate 30% — below national average
Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 30% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Just 59% of first-years come back — most of the completion gap opens in year one. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. 24% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. Retention drops to 34% 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 11,091 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $1,818 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($1,057 versus $6,542), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid is widespread — 87% of students receive it, averaging $8,822. 17% 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 · 1,305 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 | $1,057 |
| $30–48k | $516 |
| $48–75k | $1,141 |
| $75–110k | $2,174 |
| $110k+ | $6,542 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,855 of these 11,091 students, totalling $8,195,728 — an average of $4,418 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Charleston 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)