Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies at Springfield Technical Community College

The numbers here tell a straightforward story about value, even if they're estimates: similar automotive programs nationally produce first-year earnings around $43,000, with debt in the $11,000-12,000 range. That's a debt burden of roughly three months' salary—manageable territory for a skilled trade. What matters is whether this specific program delivers the hands-on training and industry connections that turn those national patterns into actual job placements, and with suppressed data, you can't verify that track record directly.

Massachusetts complicates the picture slightly. The state median for auto tech programs sits lower at $39,817, though Mass Bay Community College—the one nearby comparison with reported outcomes—shows graduates earning $43,602, right at the national benchmark. That suggests location and program quality matter significantly in this field. Springfield Technical serves a high proportion of Pell students (47%), which is admirable for access, but you'll want to investigate job placement rates and whether local dealerships and repair shops actively recruit from this program.

The trade-off is clear: you're looking at modest debt for immediate workforce entry in a field with consistent demand. But without reported outcomes, you're betting on the program's ability to match what peer schools achieve. Visit the campus, talk to instructors about industry partnerships, and ask directly about where recent graduates are working and what they're earning locally.