Electromechanical Instrumentation and Maintenance Technologies/Technicians at Aims Community College

Comparable electromechanical programs nationwide suggest a first-year salary around $58,000—a solid starting point for a technical associate's degree—paired with estimated debt of $12,000. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.21 means you'd owe roughly two months of gross income, a manageable figure that technical programs often deliver when they align well with local industry needs.

The challenge here is that with only five schools offering this program in Colorado and no reported outcomes data from any of them, it's difficult to know whether Aims Community College specifically connects graduates to the skilled trades jobs that justify this training. Nationally, the top quarter of these programs produce first-year earnings above $65,000, but some presumably fall well short of the median. Greeley's proximity to agricultural and energy industries could work in graduates' favor, or the program might struggle to place students—the suppressed data means we simply can't tell.

For a parent evaluating this investment, the estimated numbers look reasonable on paper, but you're essentially betting on program quality and job placement without verification. Before committing, insist on seeing concrete placement data directly from Aims: where recent graduates actually work, what they actually earn, and how many found jobs in their field within six months of graduation.