Arizona·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-3029

Best Engineering Technologist programs in Arizona, ranked by enrollment

All engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, not listed.

7 schools in Arizona run programs that feed this job, graduating 119 people a year. The job pays a median of $59,580 in Arizona across about 990 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledFiber Optics InstructorLaser Technician (Laser Tech)Optics Technician (Optics Tech)Photonics Technician (Photonics Tech)NDT Specialist (Non-Destructive Testing Specialist)NDT Technician (Non-Destructive Testing Technician)NDE Technician (Non-Destructive Evaluation Technician)NDT Technical Specialist (Non-Destructive Testing Technical Specialist)
Graduates / yr
119
in Arizona
Median pay · Arizona
$59,580
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
990
people employed
Schools
7
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
37%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,442
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arizona that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

5 programs in Arizona that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arizona (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arizona page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 15.0501In Arizona
65
54.6%
2$36,407$10,250
2
CIP 15.1701In Arizona
34
28.6%
1$63,554$17,750
3
CIP 15.1204In Arizona
14
11.8%
2$48,829$21,696
4
CIP 15.0401In Arizona
3
2.5%
1$60,286$15,383
5
CIP 15.0614In Arizona
3
2.5%
1$57,188$22,000

Top 7 schools in Arizona

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 7 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Miller - Motte College - Arizona Automotive Institute
Glendale, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
45Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician61%$22,442
2Refrigeration School Inc
Phoenix, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
34Energy Systems Technology/Technician$51,77276%$26,791
3Central Arizona College
Coolidge, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
20Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician27%
4University of Advancing Technology
Tempe, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Computer Software Technology/Technician35%$21,17598%
5Coconino Community College
Flagstaff, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
4Computer Software Technology/Technician24%
6Arizona Western College
Yuma, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
3Welding Engineering Technology/Technician20%
7Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
3Biomedical Technology/Technician16%

All 7 schools in Arizona

Every school in Arizona with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arizona that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Miller - Motte College - Arizona Automotive InstituteGlendalePrivate for-profit451
Refrigeration School IncPhoenixPrivate for-profit341
Central Arizona CollegeCoolidgePublic201
University of Advancing TechnologyTempePrivate for-profit101
Coconino Community CollegeFlagstaffPublic41
Arizona Western CollegeYumaPublic31
Mesa Community CollegeMesaPublic31

What engineering technologists and technicians earn in Arizona

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arizona
$59,580
Mean annual
$64,330
Jobs in state
990
What the range looks like
10th pct$44,640Median$59,58090th pct$96,100
Versus the national median
-24.0%

U.S. median $78,350. Arizona pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.79×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Arizona

Yuma, AZ
$81,330median
160 jobs
Tucson, AZ
$59,040median
70 jobs
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
$59,190median
610 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.5%
Little or no change
Openings per year
5,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,000
67,300 → 68,300
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Engineering Technologists and Technicians page.

How to become a Engineering Technologist

Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical ThinkingMonitoringActive LearningWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arizona

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 25 majors mapped to Engineering Technologists and Technicians25 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 15.0001Applied Engineering Technologies/Technicians
  • 15.0101Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians
  • 15.0304Laser and Optical Technology/Technician
  • 15.0307Audio Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0401Biomedical Technology/Technician
  • 15.0501Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0599Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians, Other
  • 15.0607Plastics and Polymer Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0611Metallurgical Technology/Technician
  • 15.0614Welding Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0615Chemical Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0617Composite Materials Technology/Technician
  • 15.0806Marine Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0807Motorsports Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0901Mining Technology/Technician
  • 15.1103Hydraulics and Fluid Power Technology/Technician
  • 15.1201Computer Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.1202Computer/Computer Systems Technology/Technician
  • 15.1203Computer Hardware Technology/Technician
  • 15.1204Computer Software Technology/Technician
  • 15.1299Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Other
  • 15.1401Nuclear Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.1503Packaging Science
  • 15.1701Energy Systems Technology/Technician
  • 15.1702Power Plant Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing engineering technologists and technicians programs in Arizona.

What degree do you need to become an Engineering Technologist?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering Technology/Technician, which awarded 65 degrees in Arizona in 2024-25, 54.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Engineering Technologist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians, Energy Systems Technologies/Technicians, Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 119 people a year in Arizona.

How much do engineering technologists and technicians earn in Arizona?+

The median is $59,580 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 24.0% below the U.S. median of $78,350. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for engineering technologists and technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +1.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 5,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arizona?+

7 institutions in Arizona reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do engineering technologists and technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Fiber Optics Instructor, Laser Technician (Laser Tech), Optics Technician (Optics Tech), Photonics Technician (Photonics Tech), NDT Specialist (Non-Destructive Testing Specialist), NDT Technician (Non-Destructive Testing Technician) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-3029.

Engineering Technologists and Technicians in other statesFloridaTexasCaliforniaMichiganOhioNew YorkNorth CarolinaIllinois

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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