Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College's automotive program shows solid fundamentals despite limited data: graduates carry just $8,849 in debt while earning $36,574 their first year out—a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.24 that beats both state and national medians. Among Kentucky's 15 automotive programs, this places in the 60th percentile for earnings, meaning graduates here earn more than roughly half their in-state peers while taking on less debt than typical.

The caveat matters, though. With fewer than 30 graduates in the dataset, these numbers could shift as more data comes in. That said, the pattern makes sense: automotive technicians in Kentucky typically start around $35,000, and this program lands graduates squarely in that range while keeping debt well below the $9,586 state median. You're not looking at Jefferson Community and Technical College's $44,000+ outcomes, but you're also not gambling on the lower-earning programs in the state.

For parents, this looks like responsible workforce training. The debt load is manageable on an automotive technician's salary—you could pay it off in under three months of gross earnings—and the program delivers market-rate outcomes for the region. Just recognize the small sample size means less certainty than you'd have with larger programs.