Undergraduate certificate · Springfield, Missouri

Is Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians at Ozarks Technical 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 in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 3.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $45,037; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $44,617; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $3,841; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $16k (likely $16k – $23k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $6k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in MO; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3.5 years (likely 1.8–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$8k (likely −$57k – $46k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $29k (likely −$69k – $133k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 34%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26