Associate's · Orangeburg, South Carolina

Is Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing at Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 0.4 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $80,515; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $83,954; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $10,673; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $13k (likely $13k – $18k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $47k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in SC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 0.4 years (likely 0.3–0.5); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $379k (likely $303k – $460k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $875k (likely $718k – $1.03M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 38%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26