South Carolina Overhauled How High Schoolers Earn Career Credentials -- Cybersecurity Students Should Know the New Rules

Before June 9, 2025, every industry credential a South Carolina high schooler earned carried roughly equal weight in determining career-ready status. A basic digital literacy certification counted the same as a Cisco cybersecurity associate credential -- a design choice that, over time, produced credential counts that looked good in reports but provided limited signal to employers trying to assess job readiness. The Education Oversight Committee's unanimous approval of a three-tier credential system changes that calculus entirely.

The new structure sorts credentials into Tier 1 (Introductory), Tier 2 (Intermediate), and Tier 3 (Career Ready). To achieve career-ready status under the new model, a student must complete a CTE pathway and earn a minimum of three points -- either through one Tier 3 credential aligned to their career cluster, a Tier 2 combined with a Tier 1 within the same pathway, or a universal credential like OSHA 10 paired with a Tier 2 or higher. Students who began high school before 2024-25 remain under the prior system, with full implementation of the new model expected by 2027-28.

The credential sorting was built around employer input rather than administrative convenience. EOC Executive Director Dana Yow made the underlying logic explicit: if a credential does not have "currency in the business community," the business community is responsible for communicating that to the education system. Business and industry leaders hold a primary role in maintaining the credential list going forward, ensuring it tracks actual hiring standards rather than drifting toward easily administered tests.

For students in South Carolina's Cybersecurity pathway, the tiered system provides a clearer target. Pathway graduates can pursue credentials including the Cisco CyberOps Associate, CompTIA Security+, and Cisco Certified Network Associate. These are the kinds of industry-recognized certifications that are likely to qualify as Tier 3 credentials -- the ones that by themselves satisfy the career-ready threshold. Cybersecurity analysts in South Carolina earn a median of $93,683, a figure that climbs to $124,910 at the information security specialist level, both projected to grow 21.6% nationally -- a rate BLS classifies as much faster than average.

The credential reform arrives as South Carolina's broader CTE system is under pressure to demonstrate labor market relevance. The state designated all CTE fields as Critical Need Subject Areas in 2024-25 due to teacher shortages across every certification field. Whether the tiered credential system shifts employer perception of South Carolina graduates depends largely on how aggressively districts invest in helping students reach Tier 3 before graduation -- which, for cybersecurity students specifically, requires sustained program investment in lab infrastructure, instructor expertise, and industry partnerships.