WELDING SCHOOLS IN SOUTH CAROLINA — Federal Data, September 2026
Welding Schools in South Carolina, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
7 accredited institutions in South Carolina report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 7 ranked programs in South Carolina, the median graduate needs 2.7 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $10,279, against median earnings of $34,928 one year after completion.
That is faster than the national median of 3.0 months for this field, measured across the 208 institutions in our national welding schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Conway, at 2.1 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on South Carolina institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about welding schools in South Carolina
The Ranking
7 welding schools in South Carolina, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horry-Georgetown Technical CollegeConway, SC | Public | Certificate | 2.1 | $5,875 | $33,002 | 38% |
| 2 | Florence-Darlington Technical CollegeFlorence, SC | Public | Certificate | 2.5 | $7,230 | $34,948 | 34% |
| 3 | Midlands Technical CollegeWest Columbia, SC | Public | Certificate | 2.6 | $10,500 | $47,556 | 18% |
| 4 | York Technical CollegeRock Hill, SC | Public | Certificate | 2.7 | $11,250 | $50,309 | 30% |
| 5 | ArclabsPiedmont, SC | for-profit | Certificate | 3.3 | $9,500 | $34,843 | 76% |
| 6 | Greenville Technical CollegeGreenville, SC | Public | Certificate | 3.5 | $10,279 | $34,761 | 21% |
| 7 | Piedmont Technical CollegeGreenwood, SC | Public | Certificate | 4.0 | $11,625 | $34,928 | 33% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in South Carolina, one by one
Horry-Georgetown Technical College
Conway, SC
Horry-Georgetown Technical College is a public institution in Conway. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $5,875 and report median earnings of $33,002 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.1 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 0.6 months faster than the South Carolina state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 38% completion rate.
Florence-Darlington Technical College
Florence, SC
Florence-Darlington Technical College is a public institution in Florence. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $7,230 and report median earnings of $34,948 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.5 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and right on the South Carolina state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 34% completion rate.
Midlands Technical College
West Columbia, SC
Midlands Technical College is a public institution in West Columbia. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,500 and report median earnings of $47,556 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.6 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and right on the South Carolina state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 18% completion rate.
York Technical College
Rock Hill, SC
York Technical College is a public institution in Rock Hill. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,250 and report median earnings of $50,309 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.7 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and right on the South Carolina state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 30% completion rate.
Arclabs
Piedmont, SC
Arclabs is a private for-profit institution in Piedmont. Its welding graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,500 and report median earnings of $34,843 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.3 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 0.6 months slower than the South Carolina state median of 2.7. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 76% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other Programs in South Carolina
Comparing a different trade in South Carolina
For SOUTH CAROLINA School Operators
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