Engineering work without the engineering degree. Two to four years of college, then drawings, testing and site work.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$64,950
Starting out
$44,220
Senior or supervising
$98,980
The national median is $64,950 a year, and the bottom tenth start near $44,220. These are the published figures for civil engineering technologists and technicians, the largest branch of this work. Electrical, mechanical and environmental technologists are counted under their own separate groups and pay in a similar band.
About $45,000 to $55,000
First job out of a community college technology program
Field-based jobs like materials testing and construction inspection often start lower but pay a lot of overtime during the building season. Office drafting and modeling jobs start a little higher and are steadier.
Certification and site responsibility
Not extra years of school
Certifications from the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies come in levels, and moving up a level is a normal reason for a raise. Being the person who signs off on inspections on a site, or who runs the modeling for a whole project, pays more than being the person who draws it.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a two year associate degree at in district community college prices plus boots and a few field items, since tools and software are usually provided by the employer. The high end is a four year bachelor's degree in engineering technology at an in state public university. Certification exams cost a few hundred dollars each and employers normally pay for them. Pell Grants never have to be repaid and at community college prices they can cover most of the bill, and many employers will pay your tuition if you keep studying while working.
This is one of the cheapest routes into technical work. Fill in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): Pell Grants do not have to be repaid and at community college prices they can cover most of the bill. Many employers also pay tuition if you keep studying while working.
Overtime
Construction and testing work runs long in the building season, and most of these jobs are paid hourly with overtime.
Employer-paid certification
Firms want certified staff on their projects and will normally pay the exam fees and the study time.
Public sector pensions
State transportation departments, counties and utilities hire technologists and still offer real pension plans.
Tuition help
Plenty of firms will pay toward a bachelor's degree while you work, which is how a lot of people finish one.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Short, cheap, and you can start working after two years.
High school diploma
Grade 12
Math through at least algebra and trigonometry, plus any drafting, shop or computer-aided design class the school offers.
Associate degree in engineering technology
2 years
Two years at a community or technical college. Civil, electrical, mechanical and environmental are the common branches.
First job
Straight after graduation
Drafting, surveying support, materials testing, inspection or estimating, usually under a licensed engineer.
Certification
Ongoing
Work-based certification levels from the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies. Each level needs experience plus an exam.
Optional bachelor's degree
2 more years
A four-year engineering technology degree, often finished part-time while working, opens supervisory and design roles.
Algebra, geometry and trigonometry
You will use all three on your first day and every day after.
Drafting or computer-aided design
If your school has it, take it. It is the exact software you will be paid to use.
Physics
Loads, forces and materials are the subject matter.
English
Field reports and inspection records have to hold up when somebody argues about them later.
You do not need a license to work as an engineering technologist. You also cannot sign off engineering drawings the way a licensed Professional Engineer can, which puts a ceiling on the role. If you ever want that license, check your state board before you enroll: some states let graduates of an engineering technology program sit the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and then the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam after extra years of experience, and some do not accept the degree at all. A technology degree and an engineering degree are not interchangeable, whatever a college brochure suggests.
Community and technical colleges
The main route. Two-year associate degrees in civil, electrical or mechanical engineering technology, close to home and cheap.
State universities with technology programs
Four-year engineering technology degrees, often with paid co-op terms built in.
Accredited programs
ABET (the accreditor for engineering and technology degree programs) runs a separate commission for engineering technology. Check your program is on its list before you pay.
Employer-sponsored study
Many people start as a technician, then have an employer pay for the degree part-time.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Construction materials testing
Separate certifications for asphalt, concrete and soils. Required on most public road and bridge work.
Highway construction inspection
The certification state transportation departments look for before they let you inspect their projects.
Fire alarm systems and water-based systems layout
Building systems certifications with levels 1 to 4. Well paid and in constant demand.
Electrical power testing
Testing and commissioning electrical equipment. A specialist route with its own certification levels.
Driver's license
Field roles mean driving between sites every day. Almost every posting asks for it.
Modeling software
Employers care which packages you know. Learn whichever ones the firms near you actually run.
Site safety training
A short federal workplace safety course is cheap, takes a day or two, and gets you onto sites.
Drone or survey experience
Site surveys increasingly use drones and laser scanners, and the people who can run them are in short supply.
Civil technologists work on roads, bridges, water systems and site development, and most of them split time between an office and a job site. Electrical technologists work on power systems, controls and testing. Mechanical technologists work in manufacturing, building systems and product testing. The degree looks similar for the first year, so visit some workplaces before you choose. The daily life of a materials testing technician and a controls technologist have almost nothing in common.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Early start. If you are in the field, you drive to a site, take samples or measurements, test concrete or compaction, and write up what you found while the crew waits on your result. If you are in the office, you work in a modeling package turning an engineer's markup into drawings, check quantities, and answer questions from the contractor. Either way you are the person who supplies the real numbers that the licensed engineer signs their name to.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
ABET (the accreditor for engineering and technology degree programs) runs four commissions, and engineering technology has its own. It covers associate and bachelor's degrees, while the engineering commission covers bachelor's and master's degrees. Which commission accredited your program is what state licensing boards look at.
The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies certifies in areas like fire alarm systems, concrete and asphalt testing and highway inspection, and most programs run through several levels. Each level needs documented work experience as well as an exam, so you cannot skip ahead by studying harder.
Becoming a licensed Professional Engineer means passing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, usually near the end of a degree, then working for years under a licensed engineer before sitting the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam in your discipline.
Every public bridge, road and building has testing behind it: cylinders crushed, soil compaction checked, steel inspected. That work is done by certified technologists, and without their paperwork the project cannot legally proceed.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise.