Idaho·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-3029

Best Engineering Technologist programs in Idaho, ranked by enrollment

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

4 schools in Idaho run programs that feed this job, graduating 77 people a year. The job pays a median of $65,790 in Idaho across about 260 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
77
in Idaho
Median pay · Idaho
$65,790
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
260
people employed
Schools
4
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
42%
across those schools
Median net price
$6,760
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Idaho that lead to this job

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

6 programs in Idaho that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Idaho (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 Idaho page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 15.1701In Idaho
29
37.7%
2$63,554$17,750
2
CIP 15.0101In Idaho
18
23.4%
1$50,625$21,717
3
CIP 15.0614In Idaho
18
23.4%
1$57,188$22,000
4
CIP 15.0304In Idaho
5
6.5%
1$59,859$15,372
5
CIP 15.1401In Idaho
5
6.5%
1$87,818$8,729
6
CIP 15.1704In Idaho
2
2.6%
1$63,554$17,750

Top 4 schools in Idaho

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 4 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Brigham Young University - Idaho
Rexburg, ID Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
36Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians55%$6,76096%
2Idaho State University
Pocatello, ID Public · 3 feeder programs
34Energy Systems Technology/Technician39%
3College of Eastern Idaho
Idaho Falls, ID Public · 1 feeder programs
5Energy Systems Technology/Technician39%
4College of Southern Idaho
Twin Falls, ID Public · 1 feeder programs
2Wind Energy Technology/Technician33%

All 4 schools in Idaho

Every school in Idaho 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 Idaho that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Brigham Young University - IdahoRexburgPrivate not-for-profit362
Idaho State UniversityPocatelloPublic343
College of Eastern IdahoIdaho FallsPublic51
College of Southern IdahoTwin FallsPublic21

What engineering technologists and technicians earn in Idaho

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

Median annual in Idaho
$65,790
Mean annual
$68,540
Jobs in state
260
What the range looks like
10th pct$47,420Median$65,79090th pct$86,260
Versus the national median
-16.0%

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

Job concentration
0.78×

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

Metro areas in Idaho

Boise City, ID
$72,010median
40 jobs
Idaho Falls, ID
$63,560median

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 Idaho

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 Idaho.

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 Energy Systems Technology/Technician, which awarded 29 degrees in Idaho in 2024-25, 37.7% 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 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Energy Systems Technologies/Technicians, Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicians, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 77 people a year in Idaho.

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

The median is $65,790 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 16.0% 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 Idaho?+

4 institutions in Idaho reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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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