HVACR

Types of Degrees HVACR 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	11,540
Basic Certificate	7,736
Associate Degree	2,139

What HVACR Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to hvacr and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to hvacr:

• 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 HVACR Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with hvacr:

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

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 0 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration in 2021, making it rank #358 in popularity.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to HVACR

Some degrees associated with hvacr may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

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 HVACR 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)	502	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	34	0
Associate’s Degree	254	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

Majors Related to HVACR

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

Major	Number of Grads
Vehicle Maintenance & Repair	68,347
Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance	8,614
Electronics Maintenance & Repair	7,979
Precision Systems Maintenance	2,301
Mechanic & Repair Tech (Other)	1,175
Mechanics & Repairers	431
Energy Systems Maintenance and Repair Technologies.	146

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.