FMU vs. FDTC: Comparing Financial Aid and Local Tuition Pathways

Base Tuition at FMU and FDTC: What You're Really Paying

FDTC publishes its tuition by the credit hour rather than as a flat yearly number. As of the current published rate, students who live in Florence, Darlington, or Marion County pay $185 per credit hour. Other South Carolina residents pay $196 per credit hour. Out-of-state students pay $274 per credit hour, and international students pay $363 per credit hour. On top of tuition, FDTC charges an activity fee of $50 per term, a technology fee of $10 per credit hour, and either a general education, technical education, or health sciences course fee ranging from $50 to $60 per credit hour depending on the class. Certain career-track programs, including nursing, welding, HVAC, and diesel technology, carry an additional $50 per credit hour differential tuition fee.

FMU prices tuition as an annual rate rather than by credit hour. FMU's official fee schedule confirms a full-time, in-state undergraduate enrollment total of $11,160 per year, made up of $5,192 in base tuition and $388 in required fees per semester. Unlike FDTC, FMU does not publish its tuition as a single text figure on the page; the confirmed number lives in FMU's official fee schedule PDF.

The practical takeaway either way: FDTC costs meaningfully less per year than FMU for students living in the Pee Dee, which is part of why so many local students start at FDTC and transfer.

How SC WINS Funding Works for Technical College Students

The South Carolina Workforce Industry Needs Scholarship, known as SC WINS, is a statewide program built specifically for technical college students in workforce-focused programs. It covers remaining tuition, fees, and required course-related expenses after all other scholarships and grants have been applied, up to $5,000 per academic year.

SC WINS comes with real boundaries. It does not apply to University Transfer Associate in Arts or Associate in Science programs, since those are designed to feed into a four-year school rather than into direct workforce entry. It's meant for students pursuing an industry-recognized credential, certificate, diploma, or associate degree in a career-focused field. Eligibility runs up to three years for an associate degree program and up to two years for a certificate or diploma program. To qualify, students need to be South Carolina residents, complete the FAFSA, and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA.

For a Florence student headed toward FDTC's nursing, welding, HVAC, industrial maintenance, or similar technical programs, SC WINS can close a meaningful gap after federal and state aid runs out.

Where FMU Scholarships and Local Awards Overlap

FMU maintains its own scholarship office and page separate from federal aid, and many of the ECCF-administered local scholarships described in our companion guide can be applied toward FMU tuition specifically. A student accepted to FMU's education program, for example, is exactly the kind of applicant the Michelle Yolanda Glenn Carey Scholarship through ECCF was built for.

Stacking Local Scholarships with State and Federal Aid

Financial aid works in layers, and the order those layers get applied in matters. Federal aid, including the Pell Grant, generally gets applied first. State aid, including South Carolina LIFE Scholarship and Lottery Tuition Assistance, gets layered on next. SC WINS specifically is designed to be the last dollar in the stack at a technical college, covering only what remains after everything else is applied. Local scholarships through ECCF or other Pee Dee funds can often be applied on top of that stack at either school, so it's worth applying for local scholarships even if you already expect a strong federal and state aid package.

Transfer Students: Moving Between FDTC and FMU Without Losing Aid

Because FDTC and FMU maintain transfer agreements, a student who starts in an FDTC program with transfer intent and later moves to FMU should talk to both financial aid offices before the transfer happens, not after. SC WINS specifically does not apply to transfer-track AA/AS programs, so a student planning to transfer to FMU from the start should ask FDTC's financial aid office directly which aid programs actually apply to a transfer-track course of study, since it is a different set of options than a workforce-track student would use.

Which Path Costs Less for Your Situation

For a Florence County student pursuing a technical or workforce credential, FDTC's per-credit-hour pricing combined with SC WINS can bring the cost of a program down substantially. For a student set on a four-year degree from day one, FMU's local scholarship access combined with state aid programs may make more sense despite the higher sticker price. The right answer depends less on which school is "cheaper" in the abstract and more on which credential you're actually working toward.