Associate's · Waterloo, Iowa

Is Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians at Hawkeye Community 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 2.9 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $48,533; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $67,473; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $10,102; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $32k (likely $32k – $38k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $28k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in IA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.9 years (likely 2.1–4.0); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $135k (likely $45k – $234k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $479k (likely $273k – $707k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 50%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26