Undergraduate certificate · Columbia, South Carolina

Is Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR) at Fortis College-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 3.2 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $46,960; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $50,341; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $13,000; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $28k (likely $28k – $38k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $14k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in SC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 3.2 years (likely 2.6–4.1); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $62k (likely $32k – $88k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $216k (likely $154k – $278k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 52%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26