The college was founded in 1966 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The college trains at career level, teaches at the university level and is located in seven counties. The campus offering the funeral services courses is in Greenwood, and the programs available are Funeral Services Education Certificate and the A.A.S. Major in Funeral Services. Financial aid is available for those who qualify.
The certificate is actually only for people who wish to obtain a South Carolina Funeral Director' License. To get in this program you already need to have a bachelor's degree or have successfully completed 60 semester hours at a regionally accredited university or college. You will need to have a certain amount of semester hours in subjects such as natural biological science, religious studies, psychological sciences, business and English. Once all these requirements are achieved, you will also need some knowledge of basic funeral service skills provided by the course to enable you to sit for the South Carolina Funeral Directors' Exam. The certificate program is not accredited.
You will need a GED (General Education Diploma) or high school diploma or attain one before the second semester of the funeral services programs. The college also requires at least three professional letters of recommendation before accepting you for their first course. You must complete all coursework within two academic years. Your grades for the required classes on the A.A.S. degree must be a "C" or higher, and before graduating you will need to take the National Board Exam.
Before enrolling in the Piedmont Technical College funeral services programs you need to obtain a Student Permit from the South Carolina State Board of Funeral Services so that you are able to complete all classes in the curriculum.
You will need to have acceptable health status enabling you to perform any practical work in clinical environments, and you are expected to meet with the Funeral Services Education faculty member before entering into any program.
If you fail more than two of the Funeral Services Education primary classes (the last three semesters of the A.A.S. program), you will be dropped from the program.
Once enrolled in the courses you will need to provide evidence of vaccinations against tetanus within the last 10 years and annual tuberculosis screenings and other necessary vaccines.