Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions at Piedmont Technical College

This program's numbers raise red flags, but the small sample size means they might not tell the full story. At $23,661 in first-year earnings, graduates earn about $7,500 below typical South Carolina lab science certificate holders and nearly $3,000 less than the state's top program at Horry-Georgetown Technical. Landing in just the 20th percentile nationally is concerning for a healthcare field where demand typically drives stronger outcomes. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.72 isn't catastrophic—it's actually better than many programs—but that's partly because both the debt and the earnings are relatively low.

The positive note here is the manageable debt of $16,950, which sits well below what most certificate programs saddle students with. For a Pell-eligible population (nearly half of students here), that matters. However, you're looking at starting pay that's barely above minimum wage full-time work, which seems inconsistent with the technical training these programs typically provide.

Before dismissing this option entirely, verify whether these graduates are actually working in the field. With fewer than 30 data points, a few outlier situations—people working part-time or taking non-lab positions—could dramatically skew the picture. If your student is committed to lab science, the stronger earnings at comparable South Carolina programs suggest looking elsewhere first unless there's a compelling geographic or timing reason to choose Piedmont Tech.