---
title: Is a Construction Engineering Technology/Technician degree worth the debt?
cip: 1510
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is a Construction Engineering Technology/Technician degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **37** colleges (37 of 37 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $64,628 ($63,997 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $22,479 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.38× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $61,438–$66,571 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Associate's | $39,898 | $12,000 | 0.26× | 5 | 5/5 |
| Bachelor's | $64,628 | $22,479 | 0.38× | 37 | 37/37 |

## Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| California State University-Long Beach (CA) | $83,666 | $18,000 |
| California State University-Northridge (CA) | $79,863 | — |
| San Diego State University (CA) | $79,248 | — |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (CA) | $75,286 | $16,500 |
| University of Florida (FL) | $71,213 | $14,869 |
| Florida International University (FL) | $69,490 | $21,000 |
| Colorado State University-Fort Collins (CO) | $69,069 | $23,500 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $68,699 | $19,000 |
| University of North Florida (FL) | $66,614 | $22,479 |
| University of Houston (TX) | $66,571 | $21,500 |
| CUNY New York City College of Technology (NY) | $66,387 | — |
| California State University-Fresno (CA) | $66,380 | $13,750 |
| Texas State University (TX) | $66,059 | $22,000 |
| Kansas State University (KS) | $65,948 | $27,000 |
| Michigan State University (MI) | $65,740 | $25,250 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/construction-engineering-technology-technician.jsonld` · `/education/fields/construction-engineering-technology-technician.json`