Community CollegePublic

Trident Technical College

Charleston, South Carolina·Public, 2-year·Southeast·tridenttech.edu
6-yr Graduation
30%
Total enrollment
13,552
peer median 12,789
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About

Trident Technical College (TTC) is a public community college with its main campus in Charleston, South Carolina and other campuses throughout Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. It is part of the South Carolina Technical College System. Enrollment for each semester is approximately 12,000 students working their way toward college transfer associate degrees and technical associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates.

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

Overall completion
30%
Full-time retention
59%

Pell equity

1.0pp gap
Pell recipients
28%
Non-Pell
27%

Pell and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates — a notably small equity gap.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

Of 88 Title IV programs, 4 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 84 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
88
Passing
4
4.5% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

88programs
  • Passing4 · 4.5%
  • No Data84 · 95.5%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
0
Safe
4
No data
84

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

4
Data Processing
Associate Degree · Computer And Information Sciences And Support Services
+48.3%
$48,936 vs $32,989
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Associate Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
+57.4%
$51,912 vs $32,989
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies Other
Associate Degree · Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
+66.0%
$54,774 vs $32,989
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Associate Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+132.1%
$76,575 vs $32,989

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

7
Business Operations Support and Assistant Services
Undergraduate Certificate · Business, Management, Marketing, And Related Support Services
37%
$16,718 debt · $44,733 earn
Culinary Arts and Related Services
Undergraduate Certificate · Personal And Culinary Services
34%
$12,369 debt · $36,449 earn
Registered Nursing Nursing Administration Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Associate Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
28%
$21,250 debt · $76,575 earn
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Associate Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
23%
$12,007 debt · $51,912 earn
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
Undergraduate Certificate · Mechanic And Repair Technologies/Technicians
18%
$9,250 debt · $52,266 earn
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs
Undergraduate Certificate · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
17%
$8,750 debt · $52,550 earn
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Undergraduate Certificate · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
7%
$2,750 debt · $39,732 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1974Next review Dec 2026

Programmatic accreditations · 7

Action history · 26

  1. Apr 2025Renewal of Accreditation
    American Physical Therapy Association, Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education · Physical Therapy (PTA) - Programs for the physical therapist assistant
  2. Mar 2025Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. — May 6, 2013 Formerly: National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission · Nursing (PNUR) - Practical nursing programs
  3. Jan 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)
  4. Jan 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Assisting (DA)
  5. Jan 2025Grant Substantive Change: Program
    American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation · Dental Hygiene (DH)

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$0
$30–48k$0
$48–75k$0
$75–110k$335
$110k+$2,562

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Federal loans
14.2%
In-state tuition
$4,564
Out-of-state
$8,606

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 5,267 students received $21.6M in Pell grants, alongside $11.8M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
5,267
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$21.6M
$21,616,180 total
Direct Loans
$11.8M
3,805 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

4k
20
4k
21
4k
22
5k
23
5k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$5.8M
2,051 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$6.0M
1,745 loan awards
Parent PLUS$58K
9 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 2,554 borrowers who entered repayment, 127 (4.9%) defaulted within three years above the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
4.9%
+2.6pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
2,554
Defaulted
127
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
14.1%
2017
17.3%
2018
14.4%
2019
4.9%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Trident Technical College

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs80
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

1,561 total completions
01Liberal Arts
56636.3%
02Health Professions
28418.2%
03Business
24215.5%
04Computer Sciences
18411.8%
05Multi/Interdisciplinary
785.0%
06Personal/Culinary
634.0%
07Visual/Performing Arts
422.7%
08Security/Protective
392.5%
09Comm. Technologies
342.2%
10Public Admin
291.9%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
13,552
12-mo unduplicated
20,307
Undergraduate
20,307
Graduate
0

Gender split

Men
36%7,364
Women
64%12,943

Race / ethnicity composition

White
49.3%
Black
30.3%
Hispanic
9.4%
Two or more
6.0%
Unknown
2.7%
Asian
1.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.1%

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
0.51
6 offenses · 11,789 students

3-year trend

0.602 yrs ago0.271 yr ago0.51Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
16
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
0
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

Burglary
4
Rape
1
Aggravated assault
1

By location

6total
  • On campus4
  • Public property2

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
0
Dating violence
0
Stalking
0 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons00
Drugs10
Liquor00

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
21.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
248

Trident Technical College vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Trident Technical College selected for federal comparison reporting.

GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

Carnegie
SubjectTrident Technical College
30%13,552Community College
Central Piedmont Community College
20,375$3,660Community College
Daytona State College
12,820$7,201Baccalaureate
Delgado Community College
12,712$11,926Community College
Eastern Florida State College
14,053$5,939Baccalaureate
Fayetteville Technical Community College
11,755$3,723Community College
Florida SouthWestern State College
14,301$8,249Baccalaureate
Georgia State University-Perimeter College
90.8%17,437$10,102Community College
Greenville Technical College
11,999$6,246Community College
Indian River State College
15,429$5,202Baccalaureate
J Sargeant Reynolds Community College
8,681$4,553Community College
Midlands Technical College
9,226$5,462Community College
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
8,694$7,372Community College
Pensacola State College
9,491$2,254Baccalaureate
Santa Fe College
12,758$11,154Baccalaureate
Seminole State College of Florida
15,390$3,119Baccalaureate
Southwest Tennessee Community College
100.0%7,004$4,588Community College
Wake Technical Community College
24,609$6,935Community College
Peer group median30%95.4%12,789$5,939

Research funding

External research funding from NSF, NIH, HERD, and federal spending sources.

NSF awards
$249,565
USA Spending
$18,514,005
All sources
$18,763,570

Reports & documents (3)

Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.

Notable alumni of Trident Technical College (2)

A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.

  • Richard Bryant
    Entertainment
  • Joseph Daning
    Politics

Frequently asked questions about Trident Technical College

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Trident Technical College.

What is the graduation rate at Trident Technical College?

Trident Technical College reports a 6-year graduation rate of 30% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Trident Technical College?

Trident Technical College reports a total enrollment of 13,552 students per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Trident Technical College located?

Trident Technical College is located in Charleston, South Carolina 29423-8067.

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