Undergraduate certificate · Daytona Beach, Florida

Is Precision Metal Working at Daytona State College worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.6 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $40,057; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: Not enough graduates to report; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $3,599; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $5k (likely $5k – $6k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $5k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in FL; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.6 years (likely 0.7–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $4k (likely −$49k – $71k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $62k (likely −$53k – $198k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 40%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26