Undergraduate certificate · Somerset, Kentucky

Is Electrical and Power Transmission Installers at Somerset Community College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 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 0 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $52,211; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: Not enough graduates to report; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $8,742; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $576 (likely $576 – $751); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $18k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in KY; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: Not within 20 years in most scenarios; Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $143k (likely $78k – $215k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $338k (likely $200k – $489k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 48%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26