Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies at Southern Regional Technical College

Similar automotive programs in Georgia suggest first-year earnings around $34,900, but a troubling pattern emerges in the year-four data: reported earnings actually drop to $32,200. That's backward movement when graduates should be gaining experience and pay increases, and it's worth investigating whether graduates are leaving the field, facing unstable employment, or encountering a local market with limited advancement opportunities.

The estimated debt of $11,000 stays manageable with a 0.31 ratio to first-year earnings, matching both state and national medians for automotive programs. However, the earnings decline makes that debt harder to service over time. For context, Georgia's strongest automotive programs—Central Georgia Technical, West Georgia Technical, and Gwinnett Technical—report first-year earnings between $39,300 and $42,500, roughly $5,000 to $8,000 higher than what comparable programs in the state typically produce. Those gaps compound significantly over a career.

Before committing here, determine why the four-year earnings drop and whether that reflects program-specific issues or broader regional economic factors in the Thomasville area. If your child has geographic flexibility, programs in metro Atlanta or central Georgia appear to offer substantially better earning trajectories for the same credential and similar debt loads.