Find Healthcare Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

14 Colleges
$6,188 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$57,601 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Associate Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in South Carolina with 3,296 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which healthcare program to enroll in when you have so many options available. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina ranking. This report analyzed 14 schools in South Carolina to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools

#1

Trident Technical College

Charleston, SC

Our analysis found Trident Technical College to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a associate degree in South Carolina. Located in the city of Charleston, Trident Technical College is a public school with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Trident Technical College are $5,143 per year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Trident Technical College accumulate an average of around $29,278 in student debt.

Trident Technical College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina list.

Full Nursing at Trident Technical College Report

The excellent associate degree programs at Florence-Darlington Technical College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in South Carolina. Located in the suburb of Florence, Florence-Darlington Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Florence-Darlington Technical College are $4,870 a year.

Florence-Darlington Technical College also made our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina list, coming in at #4.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Greenville Technical College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina list. GTC is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Greenville.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at GTC are $5,186 per year. On average, nursing graduates from GTC take out $28,495 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

GTC also took the #3 spot in our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina rankings.

Read full report on Nursing at Greenville Technical College

Out of the 14 schools in South Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the rural area of Orangeburg, OCtech is a public college with a small student population.

OCtech undergraduate students pay an average of $5,714 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at OCtech accumulate an average of around $22,878 in student debt.

OCtech did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina list.

Read full report on Nursing at Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College

#5

Aiken Technical College

Graniteville, SC

Out of the 14 schools in South Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, Aiken Technical College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the rural area of Graniteville, Aiken Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Aiken Technical College are $5,306 a year. On average, nursing graduates from Aiken Technical College take out $23,979 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read More…

#6

Piedmont Technical College

Greenwood, SC

Piedmont Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Piedmont Technical College is a small public school located in the distant town of Greenwood.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Piedmont Technical College are $5,315 per year. Nursing majors at Piedmont Technical College take out an average of $29,429 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Nursing at Piedmont Technical College Report

Horry-Georgetown Technical College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree nursing programs. Horry-Georgetown Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Conway.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Horry-Georgetown Technical College are $5,356 a year. Nursing majors at Horry-Georgetown Technical College take out an average of $32,871 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Nursing at Horry-Georgetown Technical College Report

#8

Midlands Technical College

West Columbia, SC

Midlands Technical College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree nursing programs. Located in the large suburb of West Columbia, MTC is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

MTC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,916 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at MTC take out while working on their Associate Degree is $26,377.

Read More…

Tri-County Technical College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina ranking. TCTC is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Pendleton.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at TCTC are $5,840 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from TCTC carry an average student debtload of $22,472.

Read More…

#10

York Technical College

Rock Hill, SC

York Technical College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in South Carolina ranking. York Technical College is a small public school located in the small city of Rock Hill.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at York Technical College are $5,410 a year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at York Technical College accumulate an average of around $13,514 in student debt.

Full Nursing at York Technical College Report

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Florida 21,209
North Carolina 7,425
Tennessee 6,004
Kentucky 6,395
Georgia 7,112
West Virginia 1,771
Virginia 6,775
Louisiana 3,502
Mississippi 2,838
Alabama 7,364
Arkansas 2,882

Nursing is one of 30 different types of healthcare programs to choose from.

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 14 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Healthcare Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited healthcare schools across the U.S.