Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies at Colorado Northwestern Community College

Colorado's automotive tech programs show wide variation in graduate earnings, and this rural program lands near the middle of the state pack. Similar two-year programs across Colorado produce median first-year earnings around $41,000, though the top performers—Community College of Aurora and Spartan College—report graduates earning $55,000 to $58,000. That $15,000-plus gap matters when you're mapping out loan repayment and living expenses in your twenties.

The estimated debt load of $11,425 looks manageable against those projected earnings, yielding a debt-to-income ratio of 0.28—well below the danger zone. Nationally, automotive tech associate degrees typically carry about $12,000 in debt, so this tracks with the broader pattern. The challenge is that Rangely's remote location may limit job prospects compared to Front Range schools with better access to dealerships and repair shops in Colorado's population centers.

The real question is opportunity cost: whether this particular program connects graduates to employers as effectively as competitors closer to Denver or Fort Collins. Given the wide earnings range among Colorado programs and the lack of school-specific data here, talking directly with the career services office about job placement rates and employer relationships would clarify whether Rangely's program justifies the investment—or whether a program with documented stronger outcomes is worth the extra commute or relocation.