Undergraduate certificate · Denver, Colorado

Is Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians at Lincoln College of Technology-Denver 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 4.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $49,047; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $60,029; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $13,439; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $38k (likely $38k – $46k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $16k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CO; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 4.5 years (likely 4.1–5.3); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $57k (likely $29k – $82k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $271k (likely $182k – $365k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 63%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26