College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is an Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 50 colleges (50 of 50 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$56,458

Graduates only, early career.$52,920 two years out.

Median federal debt

$21,125

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.40×

40% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is well under a single year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians report early-career pay between $50,032 and $61,954 — a spread of $11,922 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $50,032 median $56,458 75th pct $61,954

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Certificate 11 colleges $38,836 $8,000 0.17×

Associate's 39 colleges $48,074 $12,000 0.23×

Bachelor's 50 colleges $56,458 $21,125 0.40×

Master's 3 colleges $47,827 — —

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

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

Brigham Young University-Idaho ID $98,723 —

University of Dayton OH $75,715 $26,750 debt

Ferris State University MI $70,938 $23,451 debt

Weber State University UT $70,126 $19,497 debt

Ohio Northern University OH $66,764 —

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale IL $64,959 $21,000 debt

Central Connecticut State University CT $64,906 $18,363 debt

Texas A&M University-College Station TX $64,503 $22,353 debt

Northern Kentucky University KY $64,058 $26,000 debt

Western Michigan University MI $63,559 $29,000 debt

Pennsylvania College of Technology PA $62,643 $26,975 debt

Oregon Institute of Technology OR $62,170 —

SUNY Buffalo State University NY $62,019 $25,324 debt

Purdue University-Main Campus IN $61,758 $19,813 debt

University of Wisconsin-Platteville WI $61,584 $25,000 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard