---
title: Is a Plumbing and Related Water Supply Services degree worth the debt?
cip: 4605
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 Plumbing and Related Water Supply Services degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Certificate**, across **12** colleges (12 of 12 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $30,230 ($30,599 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $9,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.32× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $24,833–$34,645 — 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 | $30,230 | $9,500 | 0.32× | 12 | 12/12 |
| Associate's | $39,659 | — | — | 3 | 3/3 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Saint Paul College (MN) | $91,570 | — |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Kennedy-King College (IL) | $63,469 | — |
| St Cloud Technical and Community College (MN) | $40,273 | — |
| Industrial Management Training Institute (CT) | $32,769 | $7,626 |
| Berk Trade and Business School (NY) | $30,828 | $6,333 |
| South Florida Institute of Technology (FL) | $30,631 | $9,500 |
| Apex Technical School (NY) | $29,830 | $9,500 |
| Hohokus School of Trade and Technical Sciences (NJ) | $25,693 | $10,478 |
| Pennco Tech-Bristol (PA) | $25,043 | $9,500 |
| Orleans Technical College (PA) | $24,204 | $7,521 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Elizabethton (TN) | $21,458 | — |
| NUC University (PR) | $20,925 | $9,500 |

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/plumbing-and-related-water-supply-services.jsonld` · `/education/fields/plumbing-and-related-water-supply-services.json`