Electrical and Power Transmission Installers at Ashland Community and Technical College

Graduates of this electrical installation certificate program earn $27,034 their first year out—less than half the Kentucky median of $47,698 for this field. That's a striking underperformance: while students at Bluegrass Community and Technical College (also in Kentucky) earn $66,544 in similar roles, Ashland's graduates land in the bottom tenth percentile statewide. Even the national median for this program sits at $38,716, making Ashland's outcomes 30% below what's typical nationally.

The debt load of $7,250 is reasonable, resulting in a manageable 0.27 debt-to-earnings ratio. However, that modest debt doesn't offset the fundamental earnings problem. Electrical and power transmission work typically offers solid wages—Kentucky's median nearly reaches $48,000—which suggests graduates may be facing regional job market challenges in the Ashland area or aren't connecting with the higher-paying opportunities that their counterparts across Kentucky secure.

For families considering this program, the question isn't whether the debt is manageable (it is), but whether spending a year and $7,250 to earn $27,034 makes sense when other Kentucky community colleges produce dramatically better outcomes in the same field. Unless geographic constraints make Ashland the only option, programs like Bluegrass or Elizabethtown would likely deliver significantly better returns on the same investment of time and money.