HVAC SCHOOLS IN VIRGINIA — Federal Data, September 2026
HVAC Schools in Virginia, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
6 accredited institutions in Virginia 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 6 ranked programs in Virginia, the median graduate needs 5.3 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $14,750, against median earnings of $31,702 one year after completion.
That is slower than the national median of 3.9 months for this field, measured across the 191 institutions in our national HVAC schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Fortis College-Norfolk in Norfolk, at 3.9 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Virginia institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about HVAC schools in Virginia
The Ranking
6 HVAC schools in Virginia, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fortis College-NorfolkNorfolk, VA | for-profit | Certificate | 3.9 | $10,649 | $32,955 | 30% |
| 2 | Fortis College-RichmondRichmond, VA | for-profit | Certificate | 3.9 | $10,649 | $32,955 | 50% |
| 3 | Advanced Technology InstituteVirginia Beach, VA | for-profit | Certificate | 4.9 | $15,905 | $38,761 | 79% |
| 4 | Tidewater Tech-TradesNorfolk, VA | for-profit | Certificate | 5.8 | $14,750 | $30,448 | 71% |
| 5 | Centura College-ChesapeakeChesapeake, VA | for-profit | Certificate | 6.0 | $14,750 | $29,395 | 71% |
| 6 | Centura College-Newport NewsNewport News, VA | for-profit | Certificate | 6.0 | $14,750 | $29,395 | 75% |
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 Virginia, one by one
Fortis College-Norfolk
Norfolk, VA
Fortis College-Norfolk is a private for-profit institution in Norfolk. Its HVAC graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,649 and report median earnings of $32,955 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.9 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 1.4 months faster than the Virginia state median of 5.3. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 30% completion rate.
Fortis College-Richmond
Richmond, VA
Fortis College-Richmond is a private for-profit institution in Richmond. Its HVAC graduates leave with a median federal debt of $10,649 and report median earnings of $32,955 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 3.9 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 1.4 months faster than the Virginia state median of 5.3. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 50% completion rate.
Advanced Technology Institute
Virginia Beach, VA
Advanced Technology Institute is a private for-profit institution in Virginia Beach. Its HVAC graduates leave with a median federal debt of $15,905 and report median earnings of $38,761 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.9 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 0.4 months faster than the Virginia state median of 5.3. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 79% completion rate.
Tidewater Tech-Trades
Norfolk, VA
Tidewater Tech-Trades is a private for-profit institution in Norfolk. Its HVAC graduates leave with a median federal debt of $14,750 and report median earnings of $30,448 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.8 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 0.5 months slower than the Virginia state median of 5.3. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 71% completion rate.
Centura College-Chesapeake
Chesapeake, VA
Centura College-Chesapeake is a private for-profit institution in Chesapeake. Its HVAC graduates leave with a median federal debt of $14,750 and report median earnings of $29,395 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.0 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 0.7 months slower than the Virginia state median of 5.3. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 71% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
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 Virginia
Comparing a different trade in Virginia
For VIRGINIA School Operators
Want to know how your program ranks against these?
We run this analysis for individual schools against their own federal data and show them where they sit against both the Virginia median and the national one. Where the answer is good, it is the strongest recruitment argument a school owns.
Book Your Free Enrollment AuditBy application only — reserved for trade and vocational school operators enrolling 50+ students a year.