Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians at Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology

At $41,370 in first-year earnings, Spartan College graduates earn about $4,000 less than the Oklahoma median for this field and lag nearly $7,000 behind the national median. Among the state's four programs, this ranks 40th percentile—squarely below average. Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology graduates, for instance, start at nearly $50,000. The gap matters because many students attend specialized aviation schools like Spartan expecting premium outcomes to justify their focused training.

The debt picture provides some relief: at $22,260, graduates carry manageable loans that sit well below both state and national medians (9th percentile nationally). The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.54 means payments should be workable, even with below-average starting pay. That's a genuine advantage in a field where many programs saddle students with higher debt loads.

The catch? Sample size here is under 30 graduates, making these numbers less reliable than data from larger programs. If your child is seriously considering Spartan, dig into why earnings lag behind competitors—is it the specific technical focus, the types of employers recruiting from campus, or something else? The modest debt softens the blow, but paying aviation-school tuition for below-market outcomes deserves a hard conversation about alternatives, particularly the stronger in-state option at OSU Institute of Technology.