Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies at Butler Community College

Similar programs in Kansas typically produce first-year earnings around $49,000, which puts Butler's estimated $43,000 roughly $6,000 below the state median. That's a meaningful gap—especially when Wichita State's applied sciences campus reports graduates earning $56,000 in this same field. The debt picture, based on comparable community college programs nationally, suggests around $11,400 in loans, which is manageable given the modest debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.27.

The practical challenge here is that automotive technology programs can vary significantly in their industry connections and equipment quality, factors that directly influence graduate earnings but don't show up in suppressed data estimates. Kansas has over 20 programs competing for the same pool of dealership and independent shop positions, and Butler appears to land somewhere in the middle of that pack based on peer comparisons.

For families considering this path, the estimated debt load won't be crushing, but the earnings trajectory matters more than the starting point. If your student is serious about automotive work, investigate which Kansas programs have the strongest manufacturer certifications and placement relationships—those details will likely matter more than the modest differences in estimated debt between schools.