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Technical College of the Lowcountry urges expanded workforce training in Colleton County, cites SCWIN funding opportunity
Summary
Officials from the Technical College of the Lowcountry asked the council to support expanded local training facilities so Colleton County residents can use SCWIN (state scholarship) funds locally for workforce credentials including CDL, welding, nursing and cybersecurity.
Representatives of the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) told the Colleton County Council they are expanding operations in Colleton County and urged support for a larger local facility that could host workforce programs currently only available outside the county.
TCL officials reported that, for the July 1 to Dec. 30, 2024 period, 276 Colleton County residents applied to TCL: 12 applied to college-credit programs and 64 to workforce (noncredit) training. The presenters said 70 Colleton County students were enrolled in college-credit programs and 90 in workforce courses during that window, with 17 students participating in dual enrollment.
Speakers emphasized that South Carolina's SCWIN scholarship (referred to in the presentation as the SC WIN/Workforce scholarship) provides up to $5,000 a year for eligible workforce credentials but that many Colleton County residents must leave the county to use that funding. "Expanding access to Colleton County residents. Currently, too many Colleton County students in order to take advantage of this SCWIN scholarship money must leave Colleton County in order to do that," a TCL representative said.
TCL proposed bringing programs such as commercial driver's license (CDL) training, welding, plumbing, manufacturing/mechatronics, CNC, EMT, HVAC and nursing to a larger local facility so students could train and obtain industry credentials without leaving the county. TCL noted workforce programs are often free to South Carolina residents under technical-college scholarship programs and emphasized the college's mission to serve both students and local employers.
TCL leaders asked council members to consider facility support and policy steps that would allow SCWIN and similar scholarships to be used locally. They said doing so would improve retention of trained workers in Colleton County and help meet employer demand for family-sustaining wages.
