Which California vehicle maintenance and repair program has the lowest debt?

CET-San Jose reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,257, with first-year pay of $26,336.

How much do vehicle maintenance and repair graduates earn in California?

The median across 11 California vehicle maintenance and repair certificate programs is $40,206 in the first year after graduating and $43,966 five years after.

How many vehicle maintenance and repair certificate programs are in California?

11 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

Vehicle Maintenance and Repair (Certificate) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

11 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Certificate in Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California vehicle maintenance and repair certificate program pays its graduates $40,206 in their first year, $4,301 more than the national median. West Los Angeles College reports the highest first-year pay ($65,978), and CET-San Jose the lowest median debt ($7,257).

Median first-year pay$40,206National $35,905

Median pay after 5 years$43,966National $44,862

Median federal debt$9,500National $10,501

Debt-to-earnings36%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	West Los Angeles CollegeCulver City · public	$65,978	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	San Joaquin Valley College-VisaliaVisalia · private for-profit	$54,977	Not reported	$20,000	36%
3	Victor Valley CollegeVictorville · public	$49,729	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	Aviation Institute of Maintenance-FremontFremont · private for-profit	$47,109	$60,502	$32,500	69%
5	San Diego Miramar CollegeSan Diego · public	$43,285	$55,590	Not reported	Not reported
6	Spartan College of Aeronautics & TechnologyInglewood · private for-profit	$40,206	$59,421	$20,009	50%
7	Santa Ana CollegeSanta Ana · public	$36,380	$47,602	Not reported	Not reported
8	UEI College-Huntington ParkHuntington Park · private for-profit	$30,636	Not reported	$9,500	31%
9	UEI College-GardenaGardena · private for-profit	$27,550	$36,251	$9,500	34%
10	CET-San JoseSan Jose · private nonprofit	$26,336	$39,279	$7,257	28%
11	UEI College-FresnoFresno · private for-profit	$22,329	Not reported	$9,500	43%

West Los Angeles College, Victor Valley College, San Diego Miramar College, and Santa Ana College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every California vehicle maintenance and repair 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 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

West Los Angeles College$65,978
San Joaquin Valley College-Visalia$54,977
Victor Valley College$49,729
Aviation Institute of Maintenance-Fremont$47,109
San Diego Miramar College$43,285

Lowest median debt

CET-San Jose$7,257
UEI College-Huntington Park$9,500
UEI College-Gardena$9,500
UEI College-Fresno$9,500
San Joaquin Valley College-Visalia$20,000

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.

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

$64,980

Median pay in California. 65,420 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $38,180Top 10%: $95,280

First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers

$93,660

Median pay in California. 51,670 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $56,720Top 10%: $154,820

Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists

$73,950

Median pay in California. 20,940 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $47,180Top 10%: $96,730

Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

$52,950

Median pay in California. 11,570 people work in this job in California. 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,790Top 10%: $82,640

Common questions

West Los Angeles College in Culver City reports the highest median first-year pay, $65,978.

Vehicle Maintenance and Repair (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked223 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 vehicle maintenance and repair 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