ROI Major

Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies at Central Carolina Technical College

SC · Certificate Degree · CIP 47.03

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies degree from Central Carolina Technical College earn a median salary of $55,935 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in SC, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $58,755. The degree typically pays for itself in 9.6 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$39,618

Typical Career

$55,935

Top Performers

$67,222

Estimated break-even: 9.6 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$373

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $4,661. Most students can comfortably afford about a $373 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.4x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.7x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in South Carolina buys what costs $0.95 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Manufacturing, Retail Trade.

Where Certificate Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 30.2%
Manufacturing 21.1%
Retail Trade 8.6%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$58,755

Nominal: $55,935 in South Carolina (COL 95.2% of national avg) · 5% higher purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

9.6 years to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $32,210 $47,270 $60,972
5 Years After Graduation $39,618 $55,935 $67,222
10 Years After Graduation $46,337 $60,990 $76,015

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $55,935 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in SC, which has a cost-of-living index of 95.2% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $55,935 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9520) = $58,755 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates of the Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies program at Central Carolina Technical College can expect a positive earnings trajectory. Median earnings one year after graduation stand at $47,270, which increase to $55,935 five years post-graduation and reach $60,990 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the estimated five-year salary aligns closely with the national equivalent at $58,755.25, indicating that graduates maintain competitive earnings relative to their peers across the country despite the lower cost of living in South Carolina.

The primary industries that graduates enter are predominantly within Health Care & Social Assistance, with 54.2% of graduates entering this field one year after graduation, and the percentage remains significant at 38.6% and 30.2% after five and ten years, respectively. The estimated break-even point for this educational path compared to a high-school-only route is approximately 9.6 years, suggesting a reasonable return on investment for students pursuing this program. Overall, the data indicates that graduates can achieve stable employment and earnings growth, particularly in a robust sector like health care.

Compare with Another School

See how the Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies degree at Central Carolina Technical College stacks up against another institution side-by-side.

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Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.