Fox Valley Technical College Vehicle Maintenance and Repair (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians
- Public college
- Appleton, WI
- About 259 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Fox Valley Technical College vehicle maintenance and repair graduates earn more than graduates of most vehicle maintenance and repair programs nationally, $45,675 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $8,250 in federal loans, close to the national median of $10,501. It is one of the higher-paying vehicle maintenance and repair programs in Wisconsin.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Wisconsin and national columns are the medians across all vehicle maintenance and repair certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Fox Valley Technical College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $16,593 more than the Wisconsin median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Wisconsin vehicle maintenance and repair program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Wisconsin 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 39% 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 $7,395 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. 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 $87 a month, or 2.3% 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
82% of graduates (42 of 51) were working in Wisconsin one year after graduating. Prices in the Appleton area are about 8% below the national average, so a $45,675 salary here buys what about $49,422 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 vehicle maintenance and repair, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
$54,350Median pay in Wisconsin. 12,270 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 66,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers
$82,570Median pay in Wisconsin. 10,640 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 48,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
$62,450Median pay in Wisconsin. 6,750 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
$49,170Median pay in Wisconsin. 6,120 people work in this job in Wisconsin. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 15,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Fox Valley Technical College
Vehicle Maintenance and Repair ranks 5th of 10 certificate programs at Fox Valley Technical College by first-year earnings. The top three are Plumbing ($79,589), Truck Driving and Equipment Operation ($67,999), and Criminal Justice ($64,741).
Other vehicle maintenance and repair certificate programs near Appleton
Common questions
The median graduate earns $45,675 one year after graduating and $63,686 five years after. The median across vehicle maintenance and repair certificate programs in Wisconsin is $37,216.
The median federal loan balance is $8,250, which ranks 3rd lowest of 8 vehicle maintenance and repair certificate programs in Wisconsin. That works out to about $87 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 18% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 29%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 20% or less.
Most do. 82% (42 of 51) were working in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 vehicle maintenance and repair 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