US College Programs

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

  • 6 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 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 Pennsylvania HVAC certificate program pays its graduates $37,568 in their first year, $595 more than the national median. YTI Career Institute-York reports the highest first-year pay ($44,157), and Orleans Technical College the lowest median debt ($7,521).

Median first-year pay$37,568National $36,974
Median pay after 5 years$50,538National $45,559
Median federal debt$10,342National $10,117
Debt-to-earnings34%National 29%

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.

New Castle School of Trades reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania HVAC 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 the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. YTI Career Institute-York$44,157
  2. Pennco Tech-Bristol$38,417
  3. Orleans Technical College$37,848
  4. New Castle School of Trades$37,288
  5. All-State Career School$33,283

Lowest median debt

  1. Orleans Technical College$7,521
  2. YTI Career Institute-York$9,212
  3. Fortis Institute-Scranton$10,342
  4. Pennco Tech-Bristol$13,000
  5. All-State Career School$13,000

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Orleans Technical College20%
  2. YTI Career Institute-York21%
  3. Fortis Institute-Scranton34%
  4. Pennco Tech-Bristol34%
  5. All-State Career School39%

"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 Pennsylvania

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

Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers

$62,400

Median pay in Pennsylvania. 15,880 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. 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%: $45,970Top 10%: $89,440

Common questions

YTI Career Institute-York in York reports the highest median first-year pay, $44,157. Its median federal debt is $9,212.

Related pages

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 Pennsylvania 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

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024