A project was conducted in South Carolina (1) to develop a method by which the pupil cost of providing instruction in vocational education can be determined; and (2) to determine the per pupil cost of vocational instruction in the state. An examiniation was made of the methodology previously used by the South Carolina Department of Education to determine the per pupil costs for educating students in the state. The method and cost factors were then modified as necessary and a survey was conducted of local vocational administrators to determine actual expenditures by occupational program area for fiscal year 1981. The following conclusions were reached: (1) costs for providing vocational training to secondary students in the state differ substantially from school to school and from program to program; (2) the median per pupil cost per vocational program as reported here represents the most current, accurate cost that can be obtained from information submitted by local educators; (3) comparisons cannot be made between high school and vocational center cost data because of the difference in the responses of usable data between the two types of schools; and (4) even though high school costs cannot be generalized statewide, vocational center costs appear to be higher in most programs. Recommendations were made to create a cost management handbook for local administrators; to identify means of economizing; to divide programs into components for determining costs at lowest possible level; and to find the costs for programs for which data were not obtained. (KC)