Undergraduate certificate · Austin, Texas

Is Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR) at Austin Career Institute LLC 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 1.9 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $50,013; 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: $7,600; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $22k (likely $22k – $22k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $16k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in TX; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.9 years (likely 1.4–3.0); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $96k (likely $37k – $159k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $265k (likely $136k – $411k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 23%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26