Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling

 

Types of Degrees Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	12,175
Basic Certificate	7,684
Associate Degree	2,032

What Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, hvacr majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for HVACR Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in hvacr should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.

Skills for HVACR Majors

A major in hvacr prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
• Equipment Maintenance - Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
• Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.

Abilities for HVACR Majors

Hvacr majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
• Finger Dexterity - The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

What Can You Do With a Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling Major?

People with a hvacr degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Heating and Air Conditioning Mechanics and Installers	14.7%	$47,610
Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers	14.7%	$47,610

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling?

This is one of the most frequently chosen trade school majors. It is the 17th most popular in the country with 1,861 students graduating with an associate’s in hvacr in 2021. This major tends to be male dominated. About 96% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of hvacr majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	68
Black or African American	187
Hispanic or Latino	320
White	1,295
International Students	9
Other Races/Ethnicities	153

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in HVACR. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• Canada

How Much Do Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to hvacr is $50,160. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling

Some degrees associated with hvacr may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to hvacr have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	6.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	54.0%
Some College Courses	10.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	14.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	5.0%

Online Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	504	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	35	0
Associate’s Degree	249	1
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling Worth It?

The median salary for a hvacr grad is $50,160 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 26% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $205,200 after 20 years!

Trades Related to Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to hvacr.

Major	Number of Grads
Vehicle Maintenance & Repair	63,451
Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance	8,446
Electronics Maintenance & Repair	8,127
Precision Systems Maintenance	2,185
Mechanic & Repair Tech (Other)	1,184
Mechanics & Repairers	347
Energy Systems Maintenance and Repair Technologies.	110

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.