Undergraduate certificate · Columbia, Maryland

Is Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians at Lincoln College of Technology-Columbia worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

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

Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 4.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $47,605; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $57,917; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $10,917; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $42k (likely $42k – $51k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $18k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in MD; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 4.2 years (likely 3.7–5.0); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $76k (likely $46k – $110k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $305k (likely $217k – $410k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 67%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26