Best degree programs for Power Plant Operators, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 5 schools train Power Plant Operators. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $102,040 median wage, 29,320 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 5 schools train power plant operators, graduating 74 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Power Plant Technology/Technician. The job pays a median of $102,040 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About power plant operators
Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 15.1702 | 74 | 100.0% | 5 | $63,554 | $17,750 |
Top 5 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maine Maritime Academy Castine, ME Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Power Plant Technology/Technician | 58% | — | 54% |
| 2 | Flint Hills Technical College Emporia, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Power Plant Technology/Technician | 68% | — | — |
| 3 | Williamson College of the Trades Media, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Power Plant Technology/Technician | 83% | $1,421 | 22% |
| 4 | Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology Okmulgee, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Power Plant Technology/Technician | 42% | — | — |
| 5 | Excelsior University Albany, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Power Plant Technology/Technician | — | — | — |
What power plant operators earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainelimited | $81,060 | 190 | 1.59× | 1 | 23 |
| Kansaslimited | $79,980 | 520 | 1.92× | 1 | 19 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $95,800 | 1,010 | 0.89× | 1 | 19 |
| Oklahomalimited | $88,590 | 520 | 1.63× | 1 | 9 |
| New Yorklimited | $106,990 | 1,960 | 1.07× | 1 | 4 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Control generator output to match the phase, frequency, or voltage of electricity supplied to panels.
- Take regulatory action, based on readings from charts, meters and gauges, at established intervals.
- Control power generating equipment, including boilers, turbines, generators, or reactors, using control boards or semi-automatic equipment.
- Start or stop generators, auxiliary pumping equipment, turbines, or other power plant equipment as necessary.
- Monitor power plant equipment and indicators to detect evidence of operating problems.
- Operate or maintain distributed power generation equipment, including fuel cells or microturbines, to produce energy on-site for manufacturing or other commercial purposes.
- Open and close valves and switches in sequence to start or shut down auxiliary units.
- Control or maintain auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, fans, compressors, condensers, feedwater heaters, filters, or chlorinators, to supply water, fuel, lubricants, air, or auxiliary power.
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.6
- Monitoring3.4
- Speaking3.2
- Active Listening3.1
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Writing3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Learning Strategies2.7
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical4.3
- Public Safety and Security3.6
- English Language3.6
- Engineering and Technology3.4
- Production and Processing3.4
- Education and Training3.3
Abilities
- Problem Sensitivity3.9
- Near Vision3.8
- Deductive Reasoning3.6
- Oral Comprehension3.5
- Control Precision3.5
- Information Ordering3.5
Core activities
- Controlling Machines and Processes4.3
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.1
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.0
- Getting Information4.0
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.0
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events3.9
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Power Plant Operator
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Power Plant Operators1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 15.1702Power Plant Technology/Technician
- 15.1705Hydroelectric Energy Technology/Technician(no graduates reported)
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Power Plant Operator?+
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 Power Plant Technology/Technician, which awarded 74 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Power Plant Operator?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Energy Systems Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 74 people a year.
How much do power plant operators earn?+
The median is $102,040 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $61,790 at the 10th percentile to $131,940 at the 90th. 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 power plant operators growing?+
BLS projects a -11.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 2,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
5 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 power plant operators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Fuel Handler, Plant Operator, Auxiliary Operator, Power Plant Mechanic, Power Plant Operator, Control Room Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-8013.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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