Best degree programs for Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 3 schools train Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $58,160 median wage, 43,140 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 3 schools train service unit operators, oil and gas, graduating 61 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Mining Technology/Technician. The job pays a median of $58,160 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About service unit operators, oil and gas
Operate equipment to increase oil flow from producing wells or to remove stuck pipe, casing, tools, or other obstructions from drilling wells. Includes fishing-tool technicians.
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 15.0901 | 61 | 100.0% | 3 | $59,357 | $18,848 |
Top 3 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 | Illinois Eastern Community Colleges Olney, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 57 | Mining Technology/Technician | 63% | — | — |
| 2 | Mountain Empire Community College Big Stone Gap, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Mining Technology/Technician | 48% | — | — |
| 3 | Southwest Virginia Community College Cedar Bluff, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Mining Technology/Technician | 46% | — | — |
What service unit operators, oil and gas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinoislimited | $41,680 | 220 | 0.13× | 1 | 57 |
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
- Maintain and perform safety inspections on equipment and tools.
- Operate controls that raise derricks or level rigs.
- Listen to engines, rotary chains, or other equipment to detect faulty operations or unusual well conditions.
- Prepare reports of services rendered, tools used, or time required, for billing purposes.
- Install pressure-control devices onto wellheads.
- Confer with others to gather information regarding pipe or tool sizes or borehole conditions in wells.
- Operate pumps that circulate water, oil, or other fluids through wells to remove sand or other materials obstructing the free flow of oil.
- Drive truck-mounted units to well sites.
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.8
- Monitoring3.6
- Active Listening3.4
- Writing3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Speaking3.0
- Active Learning3.0
- Learning Strategies2.9
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical4.0
- Mathematics3.9
- Customer and Personal Service3.7
- Engineering and Technology3.4
- Public Safety and Security3.3
- Education and Training3.2
Abilities
- Problem Sensitivity4.0
- Arm-Hand Steadiness4.0
- Control Precision4.0
- Multilimb Coordination3.8
- Near Vision3.6
- Hearing Sensitivity3.5
Core activities
- Controlling Machines and Processes4.7
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials4.5
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.4
- Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others4.4
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.3
- Training and Teaching Others4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Service Unit Operator
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-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 1 majors mapped to Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 15.0901Mining Technology/Technician
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 Service Unit Operator?+
No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Mining Technology/Technician, which awarded 61 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Service Unit Operator?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Mining and Petroleum Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 61 people a year.
How much do service unit operators, oil and gas earn?+
The median is $58,160 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $38,940 at the 10th percentile to $97,560 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 service unit operators, oil and gas growing?+
BLS projects a +0.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 4,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
3 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 service unit operators, oil and gas work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Rig Operator, Service Operator, Service Rig Operator, Pulling Unit Operator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 47-5013.
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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