Which industrial technology bachelor's program pays the most?

BYU-Idaho in Idaho reports the highest first-year pay of the 48 programs ranked here, $85,411.

How much debt do industrial technology bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $24,250 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 41% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Industrial Technology (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

48 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Bachelor's in Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median industrial technology bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $59,823 in their first year and $77,547 five years after. Texas is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $55,036. The median program leaves its graduates with $24,250 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$59,823Across 48 programs

Median pay after 5 years$77,547Across 45 programs

Median federal debt$24,250Across 47 programs

Debt-to-earnings41%Across 46 programs

All 48 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	BYU-IdahoRexburg, ID · private nonprofit	$85,411	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	Lamar UniversityBeaumont, TX · public	$84,746	$87,316	$79,275	$37,672	44%
3	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo, CA · public	$78,938	$71,295	Not reported	$18,250	23%
4	Ferris StateBig Rapids, MI · public	$78,820	$81,919	$90,928	$24,250	31%
5	Indiana StateTerre Haute, IN · public	$78,215	Not adjusted	Not reported	$20,500	26%
6	University of Southern MississippiHattiesburg, MS · public	$75,493	Not adjusted	Not reported	$31,250	41%
7	Weber StateOgden, UT · public	$75,281	$76,146	$92,775	$26,500	35%
8	Central Connecticut StateNew Britain, CT · public	$74,889	$72,280	$83,277	$18,750	25%
9	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale, IL · public	$73,283	$73,314	$71,582	$22,000	30%
10	University of DaytonDayton, OH · private nonprofit	$70,559	Not adjusted	Not reported	$26,405	37%
11	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud, MN · public	$69,616	$70,589	$69,521	$16,084	23%
12	University of Northern IowaCedar Falls, IA · public	$69,122	$78,761	$84,528	$23,213	34%
13	PurdueWest Lafayette, IN · public	$68,582	$73,484	$88,846	$21,345	31%
14	Texas A&MCollege Station, TX · public	$68,154	$70,221	Not reported	$22,462	33%
15	UW-PlattevillePlatteville, WI · public	$67,742	$71,993	$81,920	$25,125	37%
16	Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland Heights, KY · public	$67,641	$75,024	$84,729	$25,500	38%
17	Ohio UniversityAthens, OH · public	$66,591	$71,778	$84,701	$26,863	40%
18	Pittsburg StatePittsburg, KS · public	$64,703	Not adjusted	$82,387	$22,250	34%
19	Minnesota State MankatoMankato, MN · public	$64,528	$65,430	$80,240	$28,500	44%
20	Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo, MI · public	$63,665	$66,168	$91,015	$29,875	47%
21	East Carolina UniversityGreenville, NC · public	$63,324	$67,133	$77,547	$20,625	33%
22	University of Arkansas at Pine BluffPine Bluff, AR · public	$61,946	$71,254	Not reported	$25,262	41%
23	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green, KY · public	$60,675	$67,298	$72,873	Not reported	Not reported
24	Pennsylvania College of TechnologyWilliamsport, PA · public	$60,468	$61,973	$81,358	$27,000	45%
25	Farmingdale State CollegeFarmingdale, NY · public	$59,177	$54,834	Not reported	$23,497	40%
26	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston, IL · public	$58,817	$58,842	$76,860	$23,000	39%
27	University of Southern MainePortland, ME · public	$58,538	$60,317	$59,339	$24,771	42%
28	Mississippi StateMississippi State, MS · public	$57,923	$66,614	$72,000	$22,500	39%
29	Shawnee StatePortsmouth, OH · public	$57,682	Not adjusted	$88,820	$24,500	42%
30	Southeast Missouri StateCape Girardeau, MO · public	$56,951	$62,710	$73,507	$24,489	43%
31	Fitchburg StateFitchburg, MA · public	$56,336	$53,269	$77,888	$27,000	48%
32	Tarleton StateStephenville, TX · public	$55,036	$56,705	$74,385	$25,750	47%
33	Wayne State CollegeWayne, NE · public	$54,600	Not adjusted	Not reported	$25,000	46%
34	Millersville University of PennsylvaniaMillersville, PA · public	$52,209	$53,508	$65,792	$27,000	52%
35	Illinois StateNormal, IL · public	$51,839	$51,861	$79,726	$23,000	44%
36	Texas A&M-KingsvilleKingsville, TX · public	$50,039	$51,556	$66,401	$23,347	47%
37	Sam Houston StateHuntsville, TX · public	$49,623	$51,128	Not reported	$21,500	43%
38	Buffalo StateBuffalo, NY · public	$48,355	$44,806	$74,319	$29,500	61%
39	Southeastern Louisiana UniversityHammond, LA · public	$47,453	$53,797	$67,391	$20,625	43%
40	Northwest Missouri StateMaryville, MO · public	$46,647	Not adjusted	$52,216	$19,145	41%
41	UL LafayetteLafayette, LA · public	$45,756	$51,873	$68,385	$23,125	51%
42	Northwestern State University of LouisianaNatchitoches, LA · public	$45,639	$51,741	$75,283	$25,625	56%
43	Cal State LALos Angeles, CA · public	$45,287	$40,902	$63,884	$15,883	35%
44	NC A&TGreensboro, NC · public	$44,378	$47,047	$48,795	$30,272	68%
45	Vincennes UniversityVincennes, IN · public	$44,323	$47,491	$60,250	$20,228	46%
46	Fresno StateFresno, CA · public	$42,807	$38,662	$71,074	$10,518	25%
47	Jackson StateJackson, MS · public	$36,378	$41,836	$52,968	$30,242	83%
48	Kennesaw StateKennesaw, GA · public	$34,618	$35,951	Not reported	$28,250	82%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 40 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 8, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

2 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Industrial Technology (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's industrial technology bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
Texas	5	$55,036	$23,347

Programs in 24 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Sam Houston State, TX$21,500
Texas A&M, TX$22,462
Texas A&M-Kingsville, TX$23,347
Tarleton State, TX$25,750
Lamar University, TX$37,672

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 5 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to industrial technology, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

$53,750

Median pay in the US. 416,210 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $39,240Top 10%: $77,530

Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians

$78,190

Median pay in the US. 95,130 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,510Top 10%: $115,700

Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians

$66,120

Median pay in the US. 75,570 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $47,300Top 10%: $99,150

Semiconductor Processing Technicians

$51,430

Median pay in the US. 31,460 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $37,690Top 10%: $82,540

Common questions

The median industrial technology bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $59,823 in their first year and $77,547 five years after.

Industrial Technology (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked34 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024