-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Piedmont Technical College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (5.6% → 0.0%).
South Carolina · Public · Predominantly certificates
Piedmont Technical College
Greenwood, South Carolina. 3,988 undergraduate students. 56 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Piedmont Technical College
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
+11%
Undergraduate enrollment
Undergraduate enrollment at Piedmont Technical College rose 11% between 2021 and 2024 (3.6k → 4.0k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. South Carolina
Each tile compares this institution to the South Carolina median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$35,768+14% · 6→10y
South Carolina median $39,325$31,430
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry33.3%-10% · '97→'09
South Carolina median 44.4%$9,500+471% · '97→'20
At program completion3,988+56% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS56.5%+12% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time—
latest cohort$4,775+115% · '00→'24
out-of-state $6,923SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
3.5%Median federal debt $9,500 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $35,768 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+12%
Piedmont Technical College · retention rose
55.0% → 61.5%
+56%
Piedmont Technical College · undergrad enrollment rose
2,549 → 3,977
+115%
Piedmont Technical College · in-state tuition rose
$2,221 → $4,775
+113%
Piedmont Technical College · out-of-state tuition rose
$3,250 → $6,923
+471%
Piedmont Technical College · median debt rose
$2,625 → $15,000
-100%
Piedmont Technical College · cohort default rate fell
12.5% → 0.0%
+538%
Piedmont Technical College · pell share rose
8.2% → 52.0%
+29%
Piedmont Technical College · earnings_median_10yr rose
$27,700 → $35,768
+37%
Piedmont Technical College · earnings_median_8yr rose
$24,400 → $33,331
+34%
Piedmont Technical College · earnings_median_6yr rose
$23,500 → $31,430
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$75,776Electromechanical Instrumentation and Maintenance Technologies/Technicians.$60,159Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$56,711Funeral Service and Mortuary Science.$51,554Precision Metal Working.$45,568Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR).$43,832Criminal Justice and Corrections.$42,853Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants.$42,615Business/Commerce, General.$41,209Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$39,969Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.$36,983Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other.$34,849Business Operations Support and Assistant Services.$32,950Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$31,368Data Processing.$29,262Human Services, General.$27,346
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
16 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
PERSONAL & CULINARY SERVICES · CIP 12
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 15
LIBERAL ARTS & GENERAL STUDIES · CIP 24
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES · CIP 30
HOMELAND SECURITY & PROTECTIVE SERVICES · CIP 43
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SOCIAL SERVICES · CIP 44
MECHANIC & REPAIR TECHNOLOGIES · CIP 47
PRECISION PRODUCTION · CIP 48
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$75,776Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$39,969Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions.$56,711Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants.$42,615Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services.$31,368
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Piedmont Technical College
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$304,085
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 3
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $11,097
- HS-only baseline · SC
- $33,700
- Years to complete
- 1
- CIP family
- 48
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in South Carolina
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Piedmont Technical College graduates earn $X” — not “Piedmont Technical College makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Piedmont Technical College caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.