TCL ranks third in job placement rate among SC tech schools
A strong health sciences program and a focus on certificate programs for in-demand discplines have made Technical College of the Lowcountry one of the most desirable technical schools in the state.
TCL ranked third in job placement among the 16 schools that make up the S.C. Technical College System, with over 93 percent of the school's graduates finding a job or continuing their education at a larger school, president Richard Gough said Monday. Only Aiken Technical College and Northeastern Technical College in Cheraw had higher rates, he said.
The job placement metric primarily looks at how many graduates work in the field they studied or continued their education in the same discipline within six months, TCL communications director Leigh Copeland said.
The school focuses on courses applicable to job needs in the area, instead of general-studies courses students can use to transfer to other schools, Gough said. That focus has led to certificate programs like its heating, ventilation and air conditioning course, which allows students to learn trades and quickly find employment. Since TCL's population skews older, many of students already have roots in the area and stay local to find jobs, Gough said.
"We work hard on programs that match up with the employment needs in the area," Gough said. "We don't run programs that aren't going to get our students jobs."
Deep ties to the hospitals in the counties where TCL offers courses help students find jobs soon after graduating, or even beforehand, officials said. In the nursing program, students have to complete clinical work at the hospitals, giving employers a direct look at their potential hires, Copeland said.
At a recent graduation for nursing students, the instructor said all but one of the 30-plus graduates had already lined up jobs. The only student who hadn't was continuing studies at University of South Carolina Beaufort, Gough said.
With more nursing positions requiring candidates to have bachelor's degrees, TCL's partnership with USCB is increasingly important, Gough said. The partnership allows students to start their degree at TCL and finish working toward a bachelor's degree at USCB while working for a local hospital, he said.
About 15 percent of USCB's student body has taken courses at TCL -- including courses taken in high school or students who may not have transferred directly to USCB -- but the percentage could rise with the current and future agreements in place between the two schools, USCB spokeswoman Candace Brasseur said.
Gough hopes a similar trend continues in the school's Transitioning Military Program, which helps Marines and other veterans leaving the armed forces learn skills in aviation. Gough said many of the program's graduates have found work at Boeing in Charleston and Gulfstream in Savannah and stayed in the region.
Gough was in Columbia on Jan. 20 with the other 15 presidents of the state's technical colleges to meet with the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education. The job placement rates were included in a combined presentation from the group's system office where each school made requests for improvements.
Gough said TCL has asked for $1.26 million to complete infrastructure improvements at the school's New River campus in Bluffton. The money would complete the infrastructure outlined in the school's master plan, setting it up for new buildings to come in a future expansion phase. Gough said an answer on the requests isn't expected until near the beginning of the new fiscal year in July.
Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.
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- Entering second year, TCL program continues preparing military members for civilian work , Feb. 2, 2014
This story was originally published January 26, 2015 at 7:29 PM with the headline "TCL ranks third in job placement rate among SC tech schools."