Fortis College-Cuyahoga Falls HVAC (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR)
- Private for-profit college
- Cuyahoga Falls, OH
- About 35 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Fortis College-Cuyahoga Falls HVAC graduates earn about what HVAC graduates earn nationally, $37,139 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $13,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $10,117. Several Ohio programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Ohio and national columns are the medians across all HVAC certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Fortis College-Cuyahoga Falls graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Ohio median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio HVAC program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Ohio 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 13% between the first and fifth year. Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Ohio earn a median of $62,510 across all experience levels, which shows how much room there is to grow after the first few years.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate. BLS figures cover heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers at every experience level.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $2,804 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 $138 a month, or 4.5% 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. Separately, 19 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $9,982.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
92% of graduates (220 of 238) were working in Ohio one year after graduating. Prices in the Akron area are about 7% below the national average, so a $37,139 salary here buys what about $39,776 buys in a typical US city.
The median Ohio HVAC technician earns $62,510, compared with a national median of $61,010. After adjusting for Ohio prices, that pay is worth about $67,379, which puts Ohio ahead.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to HVAC, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
$62,510Median pay in Ohio. 14,150 people work in this job in Ohio. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
About Fortis College-Cuyahoga Falls
HVAC ranks 3rd of 7 certificate programs at Fortis College-Cuyahoga Falls by first-year earnings. The top three are Practical Nursing ($48,339), Welding and Machining ($39,990), and HVAC ($37,139).
Other HVAC certificate programs near Cuyahoga Falls
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,139 one year after graduating and $41,984 five years after. Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in the Akron metro area earn a median of $61,090 across all experience levels.
The median federal loan balance is $13,000, which ranks 6th lowest of 8 HVAC certificate programs in Ohio. That works out to about $138 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 35% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 29%. Compare the cost with other Ohio programs before deciding.
Most do. 92% (220 of 238) were working in Ohio 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 Ohio 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 HVAC 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