---
title: Is a Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR) degree worth the debt?
cip: 4702
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 Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR) degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Certificate**, across **213** colleges (213 of 213 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $31,479 ($31,964 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $9,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.34× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $28,567–$33,883 — 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Certificate | $31,479 | $9,500 | 0.34× | 213 | 213/213 |
| Associate's | $36,355 | $16,126 | 0.36× | 43 | 43/43 |

## Where a Certificate in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Madison Area Technical College (WI) | $54,373 | — |
| Perry Technical Institute (WA) | $52,264 | $17,146 |
| Dakota County Technical College (MN) | $49,357 | — |
| Brownson Technical School (CA) | $46,101 | — |
| Capstone College (CA) | $45,899 | $9,500 |
| Industrial Management Training Institute (CT) | $42,556 | $9,500 |
| Motoring Technical Training Institute (MA) | $41,695 | $9,500 |
| Institute for Business and Technology (CA) | $41,306 | $9,238 |
| National Career Education (CA) | $41,306 | $9,238 |
| Lamson Institute (TX) | $41,306 | $9,238 |
| Porter & Chester Institute (CT) | $41,210 | $14,120 |
| YTI Career Institute-York (PA) | $40,757 | $8,404 |
| Minnesota State Community and Technical College (MN) | $40,602 | $5,500 |
| Pinnacle Career Institute (MO) | $40,598 | — |
| Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City (MO) | $40,568 | — |

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/heating-air-conditioning-ventilation-and-refrigeration-maintenance-technology-technician-hac-hacr-hvac-hvacr.jsonld` · `/education/fields/heating-air-conditioning-ventilation-and-refrigeration-maintenance-technology-technician-hac-hacr-hvac-hvacr.json`