Which South Carolina liberal arts and general studies program has the lowest debt?

York Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $8,180, with first-year pay of $27,088.

How much do liberal arts and general studies graduates earn in South Carolina?

The median across 14 South Carolina liberal arts and general studies associate's programs is $25,893 in the first year after graduating and $38,838 five years after.

How many liberal arts and general studies associate's programs are in South Carolina?

14 South Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) Programs in South Carolina, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

14 programs report first-year pay
14 also report federal debt
Associate's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median South Carolina liberal arts and general studies associate's program pays its graduates $25,893 in their first year, $1,246 less than the national median. Midlands Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($29,688), and York Technical College the lowest median debt ($8,180).

Median first-year pay$25,893National $27,139

Median pay after 5 years$38,838National $40,284

Median federal debt$11,588National $10,864

Debt-to-earnings49%National 38%

All 14 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia · public	$29,688	$42,520	$14,550	49%
2	Technical College of the LowcountryBeaufort · public	$28,441	$28,791	$9,500	33%
3	Spartanburg Community CollegeSpartanburg · public	$28,222	$39,808	$8,250	29%
4	Greenville Technical CollegeGreenville · public	$27,684	$43,418	$12,190	44%
5	York Technical CollegeRock Hill · public	$27,088	$41,516	$8,180	30%
6	Horry-Georgetown Technical CollegeConway · public	$26,724	$37,867	$16,500	62%
7	Central Carolina Technical CollegeSumter · public	$26,254	$36,906	$10,835	41%
8	Piedmont Technical CollegeGreenwood · public	$25,532	$36,983	$14,000	55%
9	USC LancasterLancaster · public	$22,995	Not reported	$11,480	50%
10	Tri-County Technical CollegePendleton · public	$22,578	$40,422	$8,750	39%
11	USC SalkehatchieAllendale · public	$19,438	Not reported	$11,588	60%
12	USC SumterSumter · public	$18,517	Not reported	$10,500	57%
13	USC UnionUnion · public	$18,455	Not reported	$9,250	50%
14	Spartanburg Methodist CollegeSpartanburg · private nonprofit	$14,509	$32,131	$12,000	83%

5 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every South Carolina liberal arts and general studies 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 the 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Midlands Technical College$29,688
Technical College of the Lowcountry$28,441
Spartanburg Community College$28,222
Greenville Technical College$27,684
York Technical College$27,088

Lowest median debt

York Technical College$8,180
Spartanburg Community College$8,250
Tri-County Technical College$8,750
USC Union$9,250
Technical College of the Lowcountry$9,500

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Common questions

Midlands Technical College in West Columbia reports the highest median first-year pay, $29,688. Its median federal debt is $14,550.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked728 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in South Carolina, ranked8 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the liberal arts and general studies associate's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024