Undergraduate certificate · Sacramento, California

Is Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians at Universal Technical Institute of Northern California Inc worth it?

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

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

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 4.8 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $43,881; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $53,041; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $11,996; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $33k (likely $33k – $47k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $13k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 4.8 years (likely 4.4–5.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $37k (likely $9k – $59k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $210k (likely $138k – $290k); 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