Bluegrass Community and Technical College Heavy Equipment Maintenance (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians
- Public college
- Lexington, KY
- About 52 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Bluegrass Community and Technical College heavy equipment maintenance graduates earn more than graduates of most heavy equipment maintenance programs nationally, $64,355 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $10,250 in federal loans, less than at 80% of heavy equipment maintenance programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying heavy equipment maintenance degrees in Kentucky.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Kentucky and national columns are the medians across all heavy equipment maintenance associate's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Bluegrass Community and Technical College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $3,113 more than the Kentucky median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky heavy equipment maintenance program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Kentucky medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 16% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $3,995 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $109 a month, or 2.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
100% of graduates (44 of 44) were working in Kentucky one year after graduating. Prices in the Lexington area are about 7% below the national average, so a $64,355 salary here buys what about $69,282 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to heavy equipment maintenance, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Industrial Machinery Mechanics
$64,560Median pay in Kentucky. 11,540 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035, with about 44,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
$59,220Median pay in Kentucky. 2,540 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 15,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Maintenance Workers, Machinery
$76,710Median pay in Kentucky. 2,920 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
$61,450Median pay in Kentucky. 450 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Bluegrass Community and Technical College
Heavy Equipment Maintenance ranks 1st of 10 associate's programs at Bluegrass Community and Technical College by first-year earnings. The top three are Heavy Equipment Maintenance ($64,355), Nursing ($62,832), and Diagnostic and Treatment Professions ($55,982).
Other heavy equipment maintenance associate's programs near Lexington
Common questions
The median graduate earns $64,355 one year after graduating and $74,854 five years after. The median across heavy equipment maintenance associate's programs in Kentucky is $59,798.
The median federal loan balance is $10,250, which ranks 3rd lowest of 5 heavy equipment maintenance associate's programs in Kentucky. That works out to about $109 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 16% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 22%.
Most do. 100% (44 of 44) were working in Kentucky one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Kentucky comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the heavy equipment maintenance program.
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
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024