Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies at Washburn Institute of Technology

Four years after completing this program, graduates earn a median of $61,209—a solid income for a certificate-level credential. The challenge is that first-year earnings are estimated at around $50,500 based on what similar heavy equipment programs produce nationally, since Washburn Tech's graduate sample was too small for the DOE to publish actual outcomes. With estimated debt of roughly $8,800, you're looking at a debt burden equal to just two months of that first-year salary, which suggests this program shouldn't trap graduates in long-term repayment struggles.

The four-year earnings figure is actual data from Washburn Tech graduates, and that $61,000 represents meaningful wage growth from the estimated starting point. This trajectory makes sense for industrial maintenance work, where experience and specialized skills command premium pay. Nationally, heavy equipment programs cluster tightly around $50,000 in starting earnings, so the estimates here likely reflect reality fairly well.

The key question is whether Washburn Tech's training prepares students as effectively as those benchmark programs, since we're working with peer data rather than this school's verified outcomes. The low debt load works in your favor—even if earnings fall short of estimates, the financial downside remains manageable. For families comfortable with some uncertainty around specific starting salaries but confident in the broader demand for skilled technicians, this looks like a reasonable trade school investment.