---
title: Is a Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians degree worth the debt?
cip: 4703
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 Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Certificate**, across **44** colleges (44 of 44 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $42,607 ($39,822 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $9,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.21× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $38,583–$47,988 — 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 | $42,607 | $9,500 | 0.21× | 44 | 44/44 |
| Associate's | $44,842 | $12,000 | 0.27× | 37 | 37/37 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Minnesota North College (MN) | $64,853 | — |
| Northwood Technical College (WI) | $64,326 | $8,500 |
| Albany Technical College (GA) | $56,193 | — |
| Madison Area Technical College (WI) | $55,551 | — |
| Chippewa Valley Technical College (WI) | $55,073 | $11,843 |
| Immokalee Technical College (FL) | $54,837 | — |
| San Joaquin Valley College-Visalia (CA) | $48,389 | $9,500 |
| San Joaquin Valley College-Bakersfield (CA) | $48,389 | $9,500 |
| San Joaquin Valley College-Trades Education Center (CA) | $48,389 | $9,500 |
| San Joaquin Valley College-Ontario (CA) | $48,389 | $9,500 |
| San Joaquin Valley College-Modesto (CA) | $48,389 | $9,500 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Covington | $47,854 | — |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology Northwest (TN) | $47,854 | — |
| Western Technical College (WI) | $47,780 | $8,969 |
| Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GA) | $46,786 | — |

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/heavy-industrial-equipment-maintenance-technologies-technicians.jsonld` · `/education/fields/heavy-industrial-equipment-maintenance-technologies-technicians.json`