Last reviewed: September 2026 · By the HVAC Brief Editorial Team · Our sourcing and editorial standards
669 US institutions awarded 23,251 HVAC credentials in 2023-24, and no school dominates: the ten largest account for just 12%.
Public colleges award 59% of credentials and for-profit schools 37%, about double the for-profit share of all sub-baccalaureate credentials nationally, 17.8%. The median program awards 20 credentials a year.
Our training gap analysis found that US programs produce about 23,000 HVAC credentials a year against roughly 40,100 projected openings. This page looks at where those credentials come from: which institutions, what kind, and how concentrated the training system is.
A fragmented system
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Institutions awarding HVAC credentials | 669 |
| Total credentials (first majors) | 23,251 |
| Share awarded by the 10 largest | 11.9% |
| Share awarded by the 50 largest | 35.9% |
| Median credentials per institution | 20 |
| Institutions awarding fewer than 20 | 328 |
HVAC training is spread across hundreds of small programs rather than a few large ones. That makes the pipeline resilient to any single closure but also hard to scale: expanding output means growing hundreds of programs, each constrained by instructors and lab space. The instructor shortage reported in the trade press bites precisely because the system is this distributed.
Who runs the programs
| Control | Credentials | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Public | 13,825 | 59.5% |
| Private for-profit | 8,521 | 36.6% |
| Private nonprofit | 905 | 3.9% |
Public institutions, mostly community and technical colleges, award 59% of HVAC credentials. Private for-profit schools award 37%, about double their 17.8% share of all certificates and associate degrees awarded in the United States, and more than three times their 11.1% share of all postsecondary credentials. This reports who awards the credentials; it says nothing about the relative quality or outcomes of the programs.
The largest programs
| Institution | City | State | Control | Credentials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ivy Tech Community College | Indianapolis | IN | Public | 432 |
| Eastern Arizona College | Thatcher | AZ | Public | 359 |
| J F Ingram State Technical College | Deatsville | AL | Public | 338 |
| Southern Technical College | Orlando | FL | Private for-profit | 318 |
| UEI College-Riverside | Riverside | CA | Private for-profit | 269 |
| Lone Star College System | The Woodlands | TX | Public | 216 |
| College of Lake County | Grayslake | IL | Public | 215 |
| UEI College-Fresno | Fresno | CA | Private for-profit | 210 |
| Tulsa Welding School-Houston | Houston | TX | Private for-profit | 203 |
| Charter College | Anchorage | AK | Private for-profit | 201 |
| Brownson Technical School | Anaheim | CA | Private for-profit | 197 |
| Apex Technical School | Long Island City | NY | Private nonprofit | 196 |
| Universal Technical Institute-Canton | Canton | MI | Private for-profit | 194 |
| ETI School of Skilled Trades | Willowbrook | IL | Private for-profit | 182 |
| NUC University | Bayamon | PR | Private for-profit | 181 |
| UEI College-Ontario | Ontario | CA | Private for-profit | 177 |
| Moraine Valley Community College | Palos Hills | IL | Public | 170 |
| Central Georgia Technical College | Warner Robins | GA | Public | 163 |
| Porter & Chester Institute | Bridgeport | CT | Private for-profit | 162 |
| Maysville Community and Technical College | Maysville | KY | Public | 162 |
Several of the largest totals belong to multi-campus systems that report to IPEDS as one institution, so a large count can reflect a statewide system rather than one campus. The table ranks institutions by credentials awarded only; it is not a ranking of program quality. Employment and pay for the trade by state are in our employment and wage index.
Frequently asked questions
How many schools train HVAC technicians?
669 US institutions awarded at least one credential in heating, air conditioning, ventilation and refrigeration technology in the 2023-24 academic year, a total of 23,251 credentials, according to federal IPEDS data.
Which school trains the most HVAC technicians?
Ivy Tech Community College in IN awarded the most, 432. Some of the largest totals belong to multi-campus systems that report as a single institution, so large counts partly reflect how a school reports rather than the size of one campus.
Do most HVAC technicians train at community colleges?
Public institutions award the majority: 59% of HVAC credentials. Private for-profit schools award 37%, and private nonprofit schools 4%.
Is HVAC training concentrated in a few large schools?
No. The ten largest institutions award 12% of all HVAC credentials and the largest 50 award 36%. The median institution awards 20 a year, and 328 award fewer than 20.
What kind of credential do HVAC programs award?
Mostly certificates. About nine in ten HVAC credentials in 2023-24 were certificates rather than associate degrees, which matches the typical entry route BLS describes: a postsecondary nondegree award followed by on-the-job training.
Does this mean a school is good?
No. These are counts of credentials awarded, not measures of quality, completion rates, job placement or earnings, which this data does not cover.
Methodology and limitations
- Source: NCES IPEDS Completions 2023-24 (C2024_A), CIP 47.0201, Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician; institution names, locations and control from IPEDS HD2024.
- First majors only; award levels summed at leaf level (certificates under 12 weeks, 12 weeks to 1 year, 1 to 2 years, 2 to 4 years, and associate degrees) to avoid double counting with IPEDS total rows.
- Counts are by reporting institution. Multi-campus systems that report as one unit appear as a single institution, which inflates their counts relative to individual campuses.
- Institution control is IPEDS’s classification: public, private nonprofit, or private for-profit.
- Credentials awarded are not graduates placed in the trade, and these counts carry no information on program quality, completion rates or earnings.
- Registered apprenticeships and employer training are outside IPEDS and not counted.
- National benchmarks (17.8% for-profit share of sub-baccalaureate credentials, 11.1% of all credentials) are computed from the same 2023-24 file using six-digit CIP codes only; IPEDS also reports two- and four-digit aggregates, which would double count if summed.
Sources
- National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS Completions 2023-24 and Institutional Characteristics 2024.
The HVAC Brief is an independent trade publication. We do not sell equipment, take manufacturer advertising, or accept payment for placement in our research. Corrections welcome.
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