Which California HVAC program has the lowest debt?

CET-San Jose reports the lowest median federal debt, $6,160, with first-year pay of $35,970.

How much do HVAC graduates earn in California?

The median across 11 California HVAC certificate programs is $38,137 in the first year after graduating and $52,497 five years after. Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in California earn a median of $72,560 across all experience levels.

How many HVAC certificate programs are in California?

11 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

HVAC (Certificate) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

11 programs report first-year pay
11 also report federal debt
Certificate in Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR)

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California HVAC certificate program pays its graduates $38,137 in their first year, $1,164 more than the national median. DeHart Technical School reports the highest first-year pay ($43,927), and CET-San Jose the lowest median debt ($6,160).

Median first-year pay$38,137National $36,974

Median pay after 5 years$52,497National $45,559

Median federal debt$9,500National $10,117

Debt-to-earnings25%National 29%

All 11 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	DeHart Technical SchoolModesto · private for-profit	$43,927	Not reported	$8,950	20%
2	Institute for Business and TechnologySan Jose · private for-profit	$41,695	$68,881	$9,316	22%
3	San Joaquin Valley College-VisaliaVisalia · private for-profit	$40,368	$67,788	$13,000	32%
4	Institute of Technology (California)Clovis · private for-profit	$39,935	$44,857	$9,500	24%
5	Capstone CollegePasadena · private for-profit	$38,740	$59,207	$9,500	25%
6	InterCoast Colleges-West CovinaWest Covina · private for-profit	$38,137	$45,750	$9,500	25%
7	CET-San JoseSan Jose · private nonprofit	$35,970	$48,636	$6,160	17%
8	Mayfield CollegeCathedral City · private for-profit	$35,007	$44,585	$9,500	27%
9	UEI College-Huntington ParkHuntington Park · private for-profit	$33,444	Not reported	$9,500	28%
10	UEI College-GardenaGardena · private for-profit	$30,235	Not reported	$9,500	31%
11	UEI College-FresnoFresno · private for-profit	$23,433	Not reported	$9,500	41%

Debt and first-year pay at every California HVAC program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

DeHart Technical School$43,927
Institute for Business and Technology$41,695
San Joaquin Valley College-Visalia$40,368
Institute of Technology (California)$39,935
Capstone College$38,740

Lowest median debt

CET-San Jose$6,160
DeHart Technical School$8,950
Institute for Business and Technology$9,316
Institute of Technology (California)$9,500
Capstone College$9,500

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

What heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers earn in California

Pay for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in California, across all experience levels, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

$72,560

Median pay in California. 35,130 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $46,950Top 10%: $109,060

Common questions

DeHart Technical School in Modesto reports the highest median first-year pay, $43,927. Its median federal debt is $8,950.

HVAC (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked154 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.
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 California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the HVAC certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024