Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies at Chippewa Valley Technical College

First-year earnings of $62,438 put Chippewa Valley Technical College's graduates well above most industrial equipment maintenance programs nationally—landing at the 75th percentile versus similar associate degree programs across the country. That's nearly $7,000 above the national median for this field, suggesting strong local employer demand or particularly effective training. While the debt figure here is estimated from peer technical colleges (around $11,875), the earnings advantage is actual reported data for this program's graduates.

That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.19 would be excellent if it holds—you'd be looking at roughly two months of gross pay to cover the entire degree cost. Most technical fields at this level see ratios closer to 0.25 or 0.30, so even accounting for estimation uncertainty, this appears to be a relatively affordable path into a skilled trade. Wisconsin's manufacturing and agriculture sectors create consistent demand for equipment technicians, which likely explains why state programs generally perform well in this field.

The main caveat is that small graduate cohorts led to data suppression, so the debt figure relies on what similar technical college programs typically produce. If your child qualifies for Pell grants or has other aid, actual costs could run lower than the estimate. For families concerned about student debt, a two-year technical degree that positions graduates in the top quartile nationally—while keeping borrowing well under first-year earnings—represents a relatively low-risk investment in marketable skills.