Undergraduate certificate · Salida, California

Is Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians at San Joaquin Valley College-Modesto worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $70,510; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $78,384; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $9,500; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $28k (likely $28k – $34k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $38k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.2 years (likely 1.0–1.4); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $311k (likely $260k – $365k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $768k (likely $635k – $911k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 73%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26