Which Kentucky heavy equipment maintenance program has the lowest debt?

Maysville Community and Technical College reports the lowest median federal debt, $8,248, with first-year pay of $53,655.

How much do heavy equipment maintenance graduates earn in Kentucky?

The median across 8 Kentucky heavy equipment maintenance associate's programs is $59,798 in the first year after graduating and $71,741 five years after.

How many heavy equipment maintenance associate's programs are in Kentucky?

8 Kentucky programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Heavy Equipment Maintenance (Associate's) Programs in Kentucky, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Associate's in Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance Technologies/Technicians

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Kentucky heavy equipment maintenance associate's program pays its graduates $59,798 in their first year, $4,266 more than the national median. Gateway Community and Technical College reports the highest first-year pay ($66,827), and Maysville Community and Technical College the lowest median debt ($8,248).

Median first-year pay$59,798National $55,532

Median pay after 5 years$71,741National $64,270

Median federal debt$10,250National $12,000

Debt-to-earnings16%National 22%

All 8 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	Gateway Community and Technical CollegeFlorence · public	$66,827	Not reported	$12,000	18%
2	Elizabethtown Community and Technical CollegeElizabethtown · public	$65,535	$82,761	$10,838	17%
3	Bluegrass Community and Technical CollegeLexington · public	$64,355	$74,854	$10,250	16%
4	Jefferson Community and Technical CollegeLouisville · public	$60,878	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical CollegeBowling Green · public	$58,717	$68,628	$8,581	15%
6	Somerset Community CollegeSomerset · public	$57,318	$64,747	Not reported	Not reported
7	Maysville Community and Technical CollegeMaysville · public	$53,655	Not reported	$8,248	15%
8	Owensboro Community and Technical CollegeOwensboro · public	$52,193	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Jefferson Community and Technical College, Somerset Community College, and Owensboro Community and Technical College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Kentucky heavy equipment maintenance program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Gateway Community and Technical College$66,827
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College$65,535
Bluegrass Community and Technical College$64,355
Jefferson Community and Technical College$60,878
Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College$58,717

Lowest median debt

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 heavy equipment maintenance, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Industrial Machinery Mechanics

$64,560

Median pay in Kentucky. 11,540 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035, with about 44,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $46,050Top 10%: $85,320

Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines

$59,220

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,540 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 15,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $37,950Top 10%: $79,090

Maintenance Workers, Machinery

$76,710

Median pay in Kentucky. 2,920 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $48,980Top 10%: $162,460

Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door

$61,450

Median pay in Kentucky. 450 people work in this job in Kentucky. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $43,710Top 10%: $93,040

Common questions

Gateway Community and Technical College in Florence reports the highest median first-year pay, $66,827. Its median federal debt is $12,000.

Heavy Equipment Maintenance (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked27 programs by pay and debt Heavy Equipment Maintenance (Certificate) programs in Kentucky, ranked8 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 Kentucky rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the heavy equipment maintenance associate's 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