ELECTRICAL TRADE SCHOOLS IN ILLINOIS — Federal Data, September 2026
Electrical Trade Schools in Illinois, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
3 accredited institutions in Illinois report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 3 ranked programs in Illinois, the median graduate needs 4.5 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $13,000, against median earnings of $34,080 one year after completion.
That is slower than the national median of 3.3 months for this field, measured across the 139 institutions in our national electrical trade schools ranking. The best performer in the state is HVAC Technical Institute in Chicago, at 2.6 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Illinois institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about electrical trade schools in Illinois
The Ranking
3 electrical trade schools in Illinois, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HVAC Technical InstituteChicago, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 2.6 | $6,861 | $32,208 | 86% |
| 2 | Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose ParkMelrose Park, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.5 | $13,532 | $35,880 | 68% |
| 3 | Midwest Technical Institute-IllinoisSpringfield, IL | for-profit | Certificate | 4.6 | $13,000 | $34,080 | 69% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in Illinois, one by one
HVAC Technical Institute
Chicago, IL
HVAC Technical Institute is a private for-profit institution in Chicago. Its electrician graduates leave with a median federal debt of $6,861 and report median earnings of $32,208 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 2.6 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 1.9 months faster than the Illinois state median of 4.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 86% completion rate.
Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose Park
Melrose Park, IL
Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose Park is a private for-profit institution in Melrose Park. Its electrician graduates leave with a median federal debt of $13,532 and report median earnings of $35,880 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.5 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and right on the Illinois state median of 4.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 68% completion rate.
Midwest Technical Institute-Illinois
Springfield, IL
Midwest Technical Institute-Illinois is a private for-profit institution in Springfield. Its electrician graduates leave with a median federal debt of $13,000 and report median earnings of $34,080 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.6 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and right on the Illinois state median of 4.5. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 69% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
With only 3 institutions publishable here, this page is a short list by construction. It is not a directory of every school in Illinois: many programs, especially at institutions that do not take federal student aid, never appear in this data at all.
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other States
The same program, another state
Other Programs in Illinois
Comparing a different trade in Illinois
For ILLINOIS School Operators
Want to know how your program ranks against these?
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