Trident Technical College Nursing (ADN): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
- Public college
- Charleston, SC
- About 171 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Trident Technical College nursing graduates earn about what nursing graduates earn nationally, $67,607 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $30,938 in federal loans, more than at 88% of nursing programs in the country. Several South Carolina programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The South Carolina and national columns are the medians across all nursing associate's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every South Carolina nursing program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the South Carolina medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned slightly more in their first year than other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $328 a month, or 5.8% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
28 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $12,057.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
91% of graduates (137 of 150) were working in South Carolina one year after graduating. Prices in the Charleston area are about 1% above the national average, so a $67,607 salary here buys what about $66,963 buys in a typical US city.
The median South Carolina RN earns $82,360, compared with a national median of $97,550. After adjusting for South Carolina prices, that pay is worth about $87,852, which puts South Carolina behind.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to nursing, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Registered Nurses
$82,360Median pay in South Carolina. 49,750 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 180,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Medical and Health Services Managers
$105,620Median pay in South Carolina. 9,350 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Nurse Practitioners
$123,290Median pay in South Carolina. 5,670 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 41% from 2025 to 2035, with about 29,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
Nurse Anesthetists
$265,480Median pay in South Carolina. 1,010 people work in this job in South Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About Trident Technical College
Nursing ranks 1st of 2 associate's programs at Trident Technical College by first-year earnings. The other is Other Interdisciplinary Studies ($32,725).
Other nursing associate's programs near Charleston
Common questions
The median graduate earns $67,607 one year after graduating. Registered nurses in the Charleston metro area earn a median of $92,800 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $30,938, which ranks 11th lowest of 12 nursing associate's programs in South Carolina. That works out to about $328 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 46% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 29%. Compare the cost with other South Carolina programs before deciding.
Most do. 91% (137 of 150) were working in South Carolina one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of South Carolina comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the nursing program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024