Electrical Engineering Technologies/Technicians at Tompkins Cortland Community College

A debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.24 suggests manageable borrowing, but there's substantial uncertainty here. Both the earnings and debt figures for this certificate come from national peer programs rather than Tompkins Cortland's actual graduate outcomes. Similar electrical engineering technology certificates nationally produce first-year earnings around $38,800—but that average masks a wide range, with top performers reaching $57,400. Without knowing where this program falls in that distribution, it's difficult to predict what your child might actually earn.

The estimated $9,400 debt load is modest compared to many technical programs, though even that figure is extrapolated from peer institutions. What complicates the picture further is the limited enrollment: the DOE suppresses data when graduate cohorts are too small to reliably measure, which means either few students complete this certificate or few report their outcomes. That makes it harder to assess whether graduates are finding work that justifies even this relatively small investment.

For a certificate program, you'd want confidence that graduates are landing technician roles quickly. The national benchmarks suggest that's possible, but you're essentially betting that Tompkins Cortland's outcomes mirror those of stronger programs elsewhere. Before committing, talk directly with the department about job placement rates and whether local employers specifically recruit from this program—concrete employer relationships matter more than national averages when you're dealing with a sub-baccalaureate credential.