Child Care Center Feasibility Study in South Carolina

South Carolina centers borrow more per project

The figure that sets South Carolina's child care lending apart is the size of the loan. Across 126 SBA approvals in FY2017 to FY2026, worth $145.9 million, the median came to $672,050, which is 1.49x the national median for centers. That gap clears our distinctness margin against the national class and against South Carolina's own median across all classes, so it is the metric to lead with. Volume also leans toward the trade: a location quotient of 1.21x, a rank of 22 of 53 among states, and 6 of 39 by loans when the state's classes are ranked against each other.

How Carolina centers are financed

Half of all approvals sit between $350,000 and $1.5 million, a band that usually means land and a building rather than a leased suite. SBA 7(a) carried 100 loans and 504 carried 26; Appalachian Development Corporation holds 10 of the 504 loans and Certified Development Corporation of South Carolina 7. TD Bank, National Association has the most 7(a) loans at 13, while Pinnacle Bank's 12 are worth $20.2 million and United Community Bank's 8 are worth $12.7 million, which points to larger building loans at those banks. Franchised concepts account for 31.0% of loans. Greenville County leads with 30 approvals, York County has 23 and Charleston County 20. The busiest year was FY2021, with 20 loans and $21.7 million.

No charge-offs yet, frequent cancellations

Cancellations reached at least 15.7% of South Carolina approvals for centers dated FY2017 to FY2024, or 16.7% counting undisbursed loans, above the class nationally but not flagged as distinctive. Losses have not appeared yet. Charge-offs stand at 0.00% across the 57 center loans in South Carolina whose money went out between FY2017 and FY2021, both to date and within five years. A floor of zero on open loans is a good record, not a guarantee.

A larger loan puts more weight on every assumption in the study. A South Carolina child care feasibility study has to count children by age band within the drive time families accept, set them against the licensed capacity already operating and planned nearby, and test whether tuition and any subsidy income can carry a project near $672,050. Construction or acquisition cost should be checked against current bids and licensing requirements, and the staffing plan priced at the ratios the state requires. Debt service coverage should be tested through enrollment ramp-up, which is where new centers are most exposed. The appraiser will value a special-purpose building with limited alternative uses, so the study's stabilised income should be credible enough to anchor that value.

The code for child care also holds family child care homes, which cannot be split from centers, so these figures include in-home providers as well as purpose-built centers.