Vehicle Maintenance & Repair

Types of Degrees Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many vehicle maintenance and repair graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	25

What Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to vehicle repair 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 Vehicle Repair Majors

Vehicle Repair majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

Skills for Vehicle Repair Majors

vehicle repair majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Troubleshooting - Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Abilities for Vehicle Repair Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a vehicle repair student include the following:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• 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.
• 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.
• Manual Dexterity - The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

What Can You Do With a Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Major?

People with a vehicle repair degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage	5.1%	$62,520

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Vehicle Maintenance & Repair?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 88% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	2
White	16
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	5

How Much Do Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $39,260 to $61,460 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to vehicle repair. This range includes 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 Vehicle Maintenance & Repair

Some degrees associated with vehicle repair 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 vehicle repair have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	8.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	37.6%
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)	36.6%
Some College Courses	7.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	2.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.5%
Master’s Degree	0.5%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 959 schools offered some type of vehicle maintenance and repair program. 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)	1,435	4
Certificate (2-4 Years)	334	0
Associate’s Degree	1,122	10
Bachelor’s Degree	1	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	1
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 Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Worth It?

The median salary for a vehicle repair grad is $45,330 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 14% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $108,600 after 20 years!

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
• Image Credit: By Airman 1st Class Nigel Sandridge under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.