The South Carolina Technical College System focuses on offering affordable, accessible and relevant education to Palmetto State residents, according its president, Dr. Tim Hardee.
During any given year, the system serves between 130,000 and 140,000 students, Hardee told the Rotary Club of Aiken during a presentation Monday at Newberry Hall.
“We have sites all across the state. In all 46 counties, we have a presence,” he said. “We cost about a third of what the four-year institutions cost. Ninety-five percent of our students are South Carolinians.
“We follow up on our graduates a year after they complete programs with us in the technical college system,” he continued. “Ninety-three percent of our graduates a year later are in a job that they were trained for.”
According to data from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, the mechatronics students in the Palmetto State’s Technical College System had an average salary of $37,054 prior to enrollment. A year after graduation, their average salary was $61,490.
Students in machine tool and computer numerical control machining programs had an average salary of $32,770 prior to enrollment. Their average salary a year after graduation was $50,420.
Almost two-thirds of the students in the South Carolina Technical College System are females, and that is “a national trend,” Hardee said. “Females do a much better job of accessing higher education in the state and also across the country.”
For more information, visit sctechsystem.edu.
