Which Louisiana industrial technology program has the lowest debt?

SOWELA Technical Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,457, with first-year pay of $75,239.

How much do industrial technology graduates earn in Louisiana?

The median across 6 Louisiana industrial technology associate's programs is $56,802 in the first year after graduating and $85,518 five years after.

How many industrial technology associate's programs are in Louisiana?

6 Louisiana programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Industrial Technology (Associate's) Programs in Louisiana, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

6 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Associate's in Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Louisiana industrial technology associate's program pays its graduates $56,802 in their first year, $98 more than the national median. Baton Rouge Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($103,572), and SOWELA Technical Community College the lowest median debt ($7,457).

Median first-year pay$56,802National $56,704

Median pay after 5 years$85,518National $67,057

Median federal debt$14,750National $13,500

Debt-to-earnings25%National 25%

All 6 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	Baton Rouge Community CollegeBaton Rouge · public	$103,572	$145,200	$16,000	15%
2	SOWELA Technical Community CollegeLake Charles · public	$75,239	$130,442	$7,457	10%
3	River Parishes Community CollegeGonzales · public	$57,379	$108,288	$11,187	19%
4	ITI Technical CollegeBaton Rouge · private for-profit	$56,225	$85,518	$18,383	33%
5	Nunez Community CollegeChalmette · public	$45,491	$69,943	$17,800	39%
6	South Louisiana Community CollegeLafayette · public	$44,022	$50,375	$13,500	31%

Debt and first-year pay at every Louisiana industrial technology program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Baton Rouge Community College$103,572
SOWELA Technical Community College$75,239
River Parishes Community College$57,379
ITI Technical College$56,225
Nunez Community College$45,491

Lowest median debt

SOWELA Technical Community College$7,457
River Parishes Community College$11,187
South Louisiana Community College$13,500
Baton Rouge Community College$16,000
Nunez Community College$17,800

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 industrial technology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

$62,250

Median pay in Louisiana. 13,690 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 40,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $42,810Top 10%: $81,750

Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians

$82,990

Median pay in Louisiana. 1,000 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,940Top 10%: $116,080

Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians

$66,120

Median pay nationwide. 820 people work in this job in Louisiana. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Semiconductor Processing Technicians

$51,430

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Common questions

Baton Rouge Community College in Baton Rouge reports the highest median first-year pay, $103,572. Its median federal debt is $16,000.

Industrial Technology (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked34 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 Louisiana rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the industrial technology 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