To become a South Carolina state trooper, you need to be at least 21 years old, a U.S. citizen, hold a high school diploma or GED, meet strict vision and driving standards, and pass a three-phase screening that includes a physical abilities test, polygraph, background investigation, oral board, and medical and psychological evaluations. The South Carolina Department of Public Safety runs the hiring pipeline, and the South Carolina state trooper requirements are strict enough that many applicants wash out before they ever reach the academy.
Baseline Eligibility
You must be 21 by your hire date and a United States citizen. Lawful permanent residents are not accepted, even those with pending citizenship applications. A high school diploma or GED is the education floor. A college degree is not required, though coursework in criminal justice can help with promotions and specialized assignments later. Military applicants need to bring a DD-214, and a dishonorable discharge is an automatic disqualifier.
Your vision must be 20/20, or no worse than 20/200 correctable to 20/100 or better. This is a hard standard with no workaround. If you’re considering corrective surgery, get it done well before you apply so your vision has time to stabilize before testing.
You need a valid South Carolina driver’s license. If you currently hold an out-of-state license, you’ll have to provide a certified driving record from every state where you’ve been licensed in the past five years.
What Will Disqualify You
The disqualifiers fall into three buckets: criminal, driving, and financial. Any one of them can end your application.
On the criminal side, SCDPS states the standard bluntly: no criminal record. The specific hard stops include any felony conviction, whether as a juvenile or an adult, with no waiting period and no exception. Under the state’s certification statute, a conviction for any offense carrying a possible sentence of one year or more is disqualifying even if you received a lighter sentence, and a guilty plea, no-contest plea, or bond forfeiture counts the same as a conviction. Any criminal domestic violence conviction is an automatic disqualifier regardless of when it happened. A DUI conviction within the past five years also disqualifies you. Misdemeanors involving dishonesty or moral turpitude get close scrutiny. Your fingerprints go to both the FBI and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, so nothing hidden stays hidden.
On the driving side, the department reviews the past five years. License suspensions tied to alcohol or drug violations, impaired driving, or leaving the scene of an accident are each disqualifying. Beyond suspensions, your overall record is evaluated for severity, recency, and volume of violations. A single old speeding ticket probably won’t sink you. A pattern of aggressive driving will.
On the financial side, SCDPS lists three specific disqualifiers: an unsatisfied court judgment, an unpaid state or federal tax lien, or a student loan in default. The certification statute also calls for a local credit check with favorable results. Clean up any unresolved financial issues before you apply.
The Three-Phase Hiring Process
The selection process runs in three sequential phases, each pass-or-fail. You can’t move to the next phase without clearing the one before it. Applications start at careers.sc.gov, and once the department confirms you meet the basic requirements, you’ll receive instructions for Phase 1 along with a document list that includes your diploma or GED, birth certificate or naturalization certificate, driver’s license, and college transcripts if applicable.
Phase 1: Physical Test, Written Test, and Polygraph
The Physical Abilities Test is a continuous course of nine sequential tasks built to mirror real law enforcement demands. You have two minutes and six seconds to complete the entire course. The PAT runs the same day as the written exam, so you need to show up ready for both. Fail the PAT and you’re out of that hiring cycle. The academy’s training materials emphasize that these tasks reflect essential job functions, which means practicing the course format and the transitions between tasks matters more than general gym conditioning.
The written exam is the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, which measures reading comprehension, vocabulary, and reading speed. It is not a law enforcement knowledge test. The department wants to know whether you can absorb written information quickly and accurately. If you already hold a South Carolina Class 1 law enforcement certification, you’re exempt from the Nelson-Denny. Everyone else takes it the same day as the PAT, and the academy does not offer retests on written exams.
The polygraph exam verifies what you put on your application: criminal history, drug use, and other background details. Results suggesting deception on material questions can end your candidacy. The useful preparation is simple. Be completely honest on the application so there’s nothing to catch.
Phase 2: Background Investigation and Oral Board
Investigators will contact former employers, neighbors, references, and anyone else who can speak to your character. The certification statute requires the employing agency to certify that it conducted a background investigation and believes the candidate is of good character. The FBI fingerprint check and the credit review happen here.
Once the background clears, you sit before a professional oral interview board. The panel evaluates your communication, judgment, and overall suitability. They are watching for composure under pressure and the ability to think through scenarios clearly.
Phase 3: Medical, Psychological, and Drug Screening
A licensed physician conducts the medical exam, which covers your full medical history and a current physical. The certification statute requires your employer to submit both your medical history and a physician’s certificate confirming the results. Vision testing confirms you meet the 20/20 or corrected standard.
Licensed professionals administer the psychological evaluation, assessing emotional stability, impulse control, and decision-making under stress. Any condition that could impair safe performance of law enforcement duties can result in disqualification.
Drug screening happens in this phase. SCDPS enforces a zero-tolerance policy on illegal drug use, and marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law regardless of state-level legalization elsewhere. Prior drug convictions also factor into the background review. Clear Phase 3 and you receive a firm offer of employment.
Academy Training
Uncertified recruits enter a 23-week training program. That’s longer than the standard 12-week Basic Law Enforcement program at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy because it adds Highway Patrol-specific instruction on top of the foundational curriculum. If you already hold a South Carolina Class 1 certification, your path is one week of orientation plus six weeks of SCHP-specific training, for a total of seven weeks.
The basic curriculum covers state law, investigative techniques, defensive tactics, firearms qualification, emergency vehicle operation, and report writing. Academic tests require a minimum score of 70%, and DUI and field sobriety testing requires 80%. There are no retests. Fail one written exam and you are dismissed. Physical conditioning continues throughout, including formation runs at least twice per week and a three-mile challenge run in the final weeks.
Veterans may be able to use Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits during academy training. The VA classifies law enforcement academies as non-college degree programs and will cover tuition and mandatory fees up to $29,920.95 for the 2025–2026 benefit year. Eligible veterans also receive a monthly housing allowance based on the E-5 BAH rate for the academy’s zip code, provided their rate of pursuit exceeds 50%.
Starting Pay and Benefits
A non-certified Trooper Trainee starts at $60,761 in base salary. Certified trainees with less than 18 months of active law enforcement experience start at $61,622. Pay rises on a set scale with time in service, reaching $62,482 at Trooper First Class (18 months), $68,160 at Lance Corporal (5 years), and $80,622 at Master Trooper +5 (15 years). The department will verify up to 15 years of certified law enforcement experience from other agencies, in-state or out-of-state, which can qualify you for a higher starting rank and salary. SCHP also offers a $10,000 sign-on bonus for positions in critical needs areas.
Troopers participate in the Police Officers Retirement System, a defined-benefit pension. Your monthly benefit is calculated as 2.14% of your average final compensation multiplied by years of service. You contribute 9.75% of gross pay (tax-deferred), and the account earns 4% interest compounded annually until retirement. If your PORS membership began before July 1, 2012, you can retire after 25 years of service or at age 55 with at least five years of earned service. Members who joined on or after that date need 27 years of service or age 55 with at least eight years of earned service. The system also provides disability protection and accidental death benefits.