Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR) at San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno

San Joaquin Valley College-Fresno's HVAC program lands squarely in the middle of California's field—literally at the median for both earnings and debt—but trails national benchmarks. Starting at $41,000, graduates earn slightly less than the national median while carrying about $2,000 more debt than typical for HVAC programs nationwide. The 60th percentile state ranking sounds decent until you notice that all comparable San Joaquin Valley campuses report identical numbers, suggesting these figures represent the entire multi-campus system rather than location-specific outcomes.

The fundamentals still work: a debt-to-earnings ratio under 0.5 means graduates can reasonably manage payments, and the 10% earnings growth to $45,000 by year four shows steady progression. For a field where half of students receive Pell grants, that's meaningful upward mobility. However, landing in just the 25th percentile nationally raises questions about whether this program provides the specialized training or employer connections that drive higher HVAC salaries elsewhere.

The trade-off is straightforward: your child will enter a stable, in-demand field with manageable debt, but they're unlikely to reach the upper earnings potential that HVAC technicians at better-performing programs achieve. If staying in California's Central Valley matters and local connections outweigh starting salary, this works. Otherwise, exploring programs at the national 75th percentile—where graduates earn nearly $48,000—could mean an extra $3,000 annually from day one.