New Castle School of Trades Truck Driving and Equipment Operation (Certificate): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Certificate in Ground Transportation
- Private for-profit school
- New Castle, PA
- About 136 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
New Castle School of Trades truck driving and equipment operation graduates earn about what truck driving and equipment operation graduates earn nationally, $41,747 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $7,544 in federal loans, close to the national median of $7,572. Several Pennsylvania programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all truck driving and equipment operation certificate programs that report the figure.
Five years out, New Castle School of Trades graduates earn more than the national figure and about $3,364 more than the Pennsylvania median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania truck driving and equipment operation program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania 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 22% 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 about the same in their first year as other graduates. They also borrowed less. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $80 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
58% of graduates (46 of 79) were working in Pennsylvania one year after graduating. Prices in the Pittsburgh area are about 5% below the national average, so a $41,747 salary here buys what about $44,097 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 truck driving and equipment operation, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
$58,580Median pay in Pennsylvania. 87,550 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 214,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: postsecondary nondegree award.
Light Truck Drivers
$44,120Median pay in Pennsylvania. 42,380 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 107,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
$47,730Median pay in Pennsylvania. 42,110 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 64,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: no formal educational credential.
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
$60,530Median pay in Pennsylvania. 22,120 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 39,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About New Castle School of Trades
Truck Driving and Equipment Operation ranks 1st of 4 certificate programs at New Castle School of Trades by first-year earnings. The top three are Truck Driving and Equipment Operation ($41,747), Heavy Equipment Maintenance ($38,321), and HVAC ($37,288).
Other truck driving and equipment operation certificate programs near New Castle
Common questions
The median graduate earns $41,747 one year after graduating and $51,008 five years after. The median across truck driving and equipment operation certificate programs in Pennsylvania is $43,254.
The median federal loan balance is $7,544, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 truck driving and equipment operation certificate programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $80 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 18% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 18%. Compare the cost with other Pennsylvania programs before deciding.
Most do. 58% (46 of 79) were working in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 truck driving and equipment operation 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