Undergraduate certificate · Norfolk, Virginia

Is Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician (HAC, HACR, HVAC, HVACR) at Tidewater Tech-East Little Creek worth it?

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

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

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 7.7 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $46,404; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $44,917; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $14,750; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $31k (likely $31k – $42k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $5k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in VA; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 7.7 years (likely 4.2–20+); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$33k (likely −$71k – $7k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: −$4k (likely −$76k – $69k); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: ≤ 20% / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20