History and Characteristics

Denmark Technical College is a public, comprehensive, Historically Black, two-year institution providing career and transfer education. The College was established by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1947 and began operating on March 1, 1948, as the Denmark Branch of South Carolina Trade School System. At its inception, the institution functioned under the South Carolina Department of Education and was mandated to educate black citizens in various trades.  In 1969, control of the Denmark Area Trade School (now known as Denmark Technical College) was transferred to the South Carolina Advisory Committee for Technical Training under the supervision of the SC State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education (SBTCE) which is now known as the South Carolina Technical College System. During the same year, the College’s name was changed to Denmark Technical Education Center. In 1979, the institution was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and assumed its present designation as Denmark Technical College (DTC).

In 1987, DTC was named the first and only Historically Black Technical College in the State of South Carolina. Since 1948, the College has experienced significant growth and annually serves approximately 1,770 credit and 425 continuing education students. As a comprehensive two-year institution, DTC serves Allendale, Bamberg, and Barnwell counties and enrolls a student population that is 96 percent minority, 73 percent full-time, 60 percent female, and has an average age of 25 years.  Approximately 85 percent of the student populations are residents of the local service area.

Denmark Technical College’s current mission states:

Denmark Technical College is an open admission  college as required by Act 654 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina. Consistent with the statutory requirement, the College makes every effort to minimize geographic, financial and scholastic barriers through the various kinds of postsecondary programs and services offered through Denmark Technical College. The College accepts the responsibility to produce graduates who are competent to meet assessed needs of business and industry, and to assist individuals in achieving educational and occupational objectives consistent with their potential.  In order to fulfill the College’s educational mission and to promote the achievement of individuals with varied potential, open admissions is defined as a practice which (1) admits to the College all citizens who can benefit from available learning opportunities, and (2) places into specific programs of study those students whose potential for success is commensurate with expected standards of performance.

The College requires that all applicants for admission be eighteen (18) years of age or older, or possess a high school diploma or its equivalent. Under certain circumstances, an applicant under the age of eighteen (18) who has not graduated from high school may be considered for enrollment through special agreement between the College and the principal of the school where the applicant has been, or is, attending.  Except where programs have specific licensing or minimum performance level requirements, the College does not require a high school diploma, its equivalent, or attainment of specific levels of education prior to admittance.  Denmark Technical College provides appropriate developmental and remedial programs to students to meet their academic needs; it is the policy of the College to follow the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education recommendations related to developmental and remedial programs. 

List of Degrees

The programs outlined below provide a complete list of all degree, diploma or certificate programs currently offered at Denmark Technical College.

Table 1 List of Programs by Division

Locations and Distance Education

Denmark Technical College offers coursework toward a degree, diploma, or certificate in the following counties in South Carolina: Allendale, Bamberg, and Barnwell.  Within these counties, the College teaches courses at the following locations:

New Off-Campus Sites: Jefferson Davis Academy (High School): 5061 Hilda Road, Blackville, SC 29817 (USA). Since reaffirmation in 2005, this new off-campus site was opened. DTC informed the Commission on August 16, 2010.
Allendale Area Career Center: 3581 Allendale-Fairfax Hwy, Fairfax, SC 29827 (USA). The College informed the Commission on August 16, 2010 that it would open the Allendale Area Career Center in Fall 2010, and that between 25 - 49 percent of the courses towards the Certificate in Welding would be offered at this location.  We will exceed the 50 percent threshold in Spring 2011 and have begun preparing a prospectus for submission to the Commission.

Existing Sites:

1. Denmark Technical College: 1126 Solomon Blatt Boulevard, Denmark SC 29042 (USA). 

1. Barnwell Technology and Training Center: 664 Joey Zorn Boulevard, Barnwell, SC 29812 (USA). Barnwell Technology and Training Center offers courses that apply toward degree, diploma, and/or certificate programs.  Barnwell students can obtain up to 50 percent of the credits required for the Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees, Associate in Applied Science degrees, diploma and/or certificate programs.  In 2009-2010 enrollment at the Barnwell Technology Center was 70 students, which comprises 4% of the college’s total enrollment.
2. Denmark-Olar High School: 197 Viking Circle, Denmark, SC 29042 (USA).

During the 2009-2010 academic year courses were also offered at Denmark-Olar High School, one of the College’s dual enrollment sites within the tri-county area. The credits for these courses can be applied toward a degree, diploma, and/or certificate program. 

Distance Education Credit Offerings:

All of the SC system colleges were approved for distance learning programs in 1997 and had an on-site team review its initial offering.  The majority of courses offered in an electronic format are general education courses but additional course work can be taken electronically in the Criminal Justice and Early Care and Education departments.  Offerings include, but are not limited to courses in: criminology, English composition, English literature, history, algebra, marketing, music appreciation, psychology, sociology, history, and art appreciation. The College also offered online courses to high school students who were enrolled in the College’s dual enrollment program.

Table 2 provides the list of the current program offerings where the majority or significant percentage of all programs delivered online via internet platform only.