What The Ranking Is Designed To Compare
The score compares reported automotive training activity, institution-wide tuition, and schoolwide completion. Use it to build a shortlist, then confirm the school’s current automotive curriculum, shop access, teaching location, and total program price.
Core rankings use the NCES classification for Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician, CIP 47.0604. The 2024 federal records include 741 institutions and 1,483 credential-level records with positive reported awards in the 50 states and Washington, DC. Each institution appears once in a ranking, with its relevant credentials grouped together.
How The Comparison Score Works
| Measure | Weight | What It Tells You |
|---|---|---|
| Automotive Credential Awards | 50% | The reported scale of automotive certificate and degree awards in 2023–24. |
| Annual In-State Tuition | 30% | The institution’s undergraduate tuition for 2024–25, with lower tuition receiving more points. |
| Schoolwide Graduation Rate | 20% | Completion within 150% of normal time for first-time, full-time students across the institution. |
Each measure is converted to its percentile among the core schools. Tied values use the midpoint of their positions. The tuition percentile is reversed so a lower figure receives a higher component score. The published score is the weighted average of reported measures, with their weights normalized to total 100%, rounded to one decimal place.
Schools sort by score, then automotive award count, then name. State and city rankings preserve that national scoring method. The national page displays the top 25, while each local page includes all schools meeting its geographic selection.
Read The Measures In Context
Automotive awards count credentials, not unique people. A student can earn more than one certificate or continue from a certificate to a degree. A larger award count indicates more recorded training activity; it does not establish superior teaching.
Annual tuition covers the institution’s undergraduate tuition figure. Program-specific tuition, residency rules, required fees, tools, books, and living expenses can change what you pay. For a local option across a state line, confirm the rate for your residency.
The graduation rate describes the institution’s first-time, full-time cohort. It is not an automotive program completion rate, an ASE test pass rate, or a job placement rate. Historical records describe a reporting period, so confirm current program admissions with the school.
Officially Verified Additional Programs
Some colleges publish automotive service programs under other federal classifications. We check their official automotive pages and show these as additional training options without a numerical comparison score. This applies to the verified Hawaii colleges and the Columbus State automotive program in the initial edition.
Official program links are checked for subject and campus. A system-wide automotive page is treated as a source for that system’s general program information; confirm campus availability directly with the institution.
How State And City Coverage Works
State pages use each institution’s federally reported state. City coverage starts with the principal city of each of the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in the Census Bureau’s July 2025 population estimates.
City comparisons include institution locations within a 50-mile straight-line radius of a representative city point, including options across state borders. This radius is not a metropolitan boundary or a driving-distance estimate. The San Francisco reference point uses City Hall because the city’s legal geography includes offshore islands. Confirm the program’s teaching campus before planning travel.
How Salary Figures Are Used
Wages come from the May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics, SOC 49-3023. We publish the median with the 10th and 90th percentiles and an employment count. City pages label their wage figures as statewide. These are occupational survey results across experience levels, not school graduate earnings or starting-pay offers.
Editorial Independence And Corrections
Schools cannot buy ranking points. Any sponsored placement is labeled separately from the editorial comparison. Taylor Rupe is the named editor, and this edition’s records and official program sources were checked September 8, 2026.
Send updates with an official source to help@hakia.com. Review our source list, explore the national rankings, or find your state’s school comparison.