By Jessica Holdman
COLUMBIA – South Carolina college students who start their degree at a technical college have an upfront guarantee they won’t need to retake any core classes if they choose to continue on to the state’s two largest research universities.
South Carolina’s technical college system already has individual agreements with all of the state’s public universities. But a new contract signed Thursday, Jan. 11, marked the first step toward a unified, statewide pact when it comes to students moving between the state’s higher education institutions.
“There’s no point in taking the same course — let’s say English — twice and having to pay for it both times,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in explaining the purpose of the agreement.
“This will make a college education more affordable,” the governor added.
Under the agreement, students who complete 30 hours of college credit — equivalent to one year of education — at one of the 16 technical colleges in the state will be able to put those hours toward a degree at Clemson University or the University of South Carolina.
By starting at a technical college, students can save an estimated $30,000, according to Tim Hardee, president of the state Technical College System.
Technical colleges send about 1,600 students on to USC and Clemson as transfers annually, Hardee said.
While the tech schools already had agreements in place with USC, Clemson, as well as the state’s 10 other four-year colleges, this move takes that continuity a step further, he said.
“These agreements go back decades, but they are evolving as the landscape is changing and the preferences of the students change,” USC President Michael Amiridis said. “We’re trying to make it easier every time and more friendly.”
This latest commitment applies only to the core set of classes all South Carolina college students must complete to graduate.
Howeveer, Hardee said, there are more than 80 other courses that can be taken at the technical college level and put toward certain degrees at the state’s four-year schools.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the S.C. Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier.
