Connecticut·Production Occupations·SOC 51-9082

Best Medical Appliance Technician programs in Connecticut, ranked by enrollment

Construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices such as braces, orthotics and prosthetic devices, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical.

2 schools in Connecticut run programs that feed this job, graduating 22 people a year. The job pays a median of $54,430 in Connecticut across about 130 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledLab TechnicianOrthotic TechnicianProsthetics TechnicianOrthotic and Prosthetic Technician (O and P Technician)Brace MakerModel MakerOrthotic FitterOrthotics Fitter
Graduates / yr
22
in Connecticut
Median pay · Connecticut
$54,430
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
130
people employed
Schools
2
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
52%
across those schools
Median net price
$28,311
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Connecticut that lead to this job

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

2 programs in Connecticut that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Connecticut (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 Connecticut page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
117
77.3%
1$35,966$26,323
25
22.7%
1$35,966$26,323

Top 2 schools in Connecticut

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 2 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Hartford
West Hartford, CT Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
17Orthotist/Prosthetist54%$28,31196%
2Southern Connecticut State University
New Haven, CT Public · 1 feeder programs
5Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering50%91%

All 2 schools in Connecticut

Every school in Connecticut 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 Connecticut that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of HartfordWest HartfordPrivate not-for-profit171
Southern Connecticut State UniversityNew HavenPublic51

What medical appliance technicians earn in Connecticut

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

Median annual in Connecticut
$54,430
Mean annual
$57,530
Jobs in state
130
What the range looks like
10th pct$43,020Median$54,43090th pct$83,540
Versus the national median
+13.3%

U.S. median $48,030. Connecticut pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.05×

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

Metro areas in Connecticut

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
$46,370median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.7%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
1,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
400
12,000 → 12,400
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

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 Medical Appliance Technicians page.

How to become a Medical Appliance Technician

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingReading ComprehensionMonitoringWriting

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Connecticut

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 2 majors mapped to Medical Appliance Technicians2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 51.2307Orthotist/Prosthetist
  • 51.2312Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering

Common questions

Answers for people weighing medical appliance technicians programs in Connecticut.

What degree do you need to become a Medical Appliance Technician?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Orthotist/Prosthetist, which awarded 17 degrees in Connecticut in 2024-25, 77.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Medical Appliance Technician?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. Together they graduate about 22 people a year in Connecticut.

How much do medical appliance technicians earn in Connecticut?+

The median is $54,430 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 13.3% above the U.S. median of $48,030. 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 medical appliance technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +3.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

2 institutions in Connecticut reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 medical appliance technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Lab Technician, Orthotic Technician, Prosthetics Technician, Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician (O and P Technician) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-9082.

Medical Appliance Technicians in other statesIllinoisMinnesotaTexasCaliforniaOhioGeorgiaMichiganWashington
Programs in ConnecticutOrthotist/Prosthetist

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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