Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technology at Patrick & Henry Community College

The estimated $12,000 debt load is manageable by any measure, but the earnings picture raises questions about this program's competitiveness in Virginia's technical education landscape. Similar electrical maintenance programs at Virginia community colleges typically produce first-year earnings around $62,688—nearly $17,000 more than what comparable national programs suggest for graduates here. That gap matters when you're deciding between nearby options like New River Community College, which reports actual earnings at that higher Virginia median.

The four-year earnings figure of $41,099 is actual reported data and shows a troubling decline rather than growth, though the small sample size that triggered suppression of other figures makes it hard to know if this represents a real pattern or statistical noise. What we do know is that across Virginia, electrical maintenance credentials generally lead to solid middle-class wages that justify even higher debt loads than estimated here. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.26 would be excellent if based on typical Virginia outcomes.

Given that nearly half the students here receive Pell grants, affordability clearly matters to this student body. The low estimated debt delivers on that front. But with multiple electrical programs across Virginia showing significantly stronger earnings outcomes, parents should directly ask Patrick & Henry what their graduates actually earn and where they're employed before assuming this program will match the state's technical education track record.