Electrical Engineering Technologies/Technicians at Tompkins Cortland Community College

When you're looking at an estimated $12,063 in debt for an associate degree in electrical engineering technology, the numbers suggest a manageable entry into a solid technical field—but the estimation itself tells you something important. Tompkins Cortland's program is small enough that the Department of Education can't publish actual graduate outcomes, which means you're essentially betting on whether this school can match what similar New York programs deliver. Based on those peer programs, graduates typically earn around $49,652 in their first year, putting the debt-to-earnings ratio at a comfortable 0.24—less than three months of income.

The challenge is that this estimated figure sits about $5,000 below the national median for electrical engineering technology programs, and you can see the range just within New York: DeVry graduates report earning nearly $58,000, while CUNY Bronx sits at just $31,000. Without actual data from Tompkins Cortland, you're choosing this program based on location, cost, or other factors while hoping it performs closer to the Monroe Community College benchmark than the lower end.

The debt load appears reasonable enough that even if outcomes trend toward the middle of New York's range, your child shouldn't face crushing repayment. But you're making this decision without knowing whether this particular program connects students to employers effectively or delivers the hands-on training that makes the difference in technical fields.