Electrical and Power Transmission Installers at Haywood Community College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.27 looks manageable on paper, but the real story here is how much uncertainty surrounds this particular program. Based on national peer programs, graduates might expect around $44,700 in their first year—a figure that falls significantly short of North Carolina's typical outcomes for electrical and power transmission programs, which cluster closer to $57,000. That $12,400 gap matters when you're comparing this investment to what other NC community colleges deliver in the same field.

The challenge is that we're working entirely from estimates here—both the earnings and debt figures come from comparable programs elsewhere, not from Haywood's own graduates. What we do know is that outcomes in this field vary dramatically even within North Carolina, with some programs producing first-year earnings above $73,000 while others hover around $40,000. Without actual data from Haywood's program, you're essentially betting on whether their training and employer connections align more with Richmond's success or something closer to the lower end.

For families considering this program, the estimated $12,000 debt burden isn't crushing, but you'd want concrete answers about job placement rates and which local employers recruit from Haywood before committing. The state's stronger median suggests opportunity exists in NC's electrical sector—the question is whether this specific program reliably connects students to it.