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Major · Construction Trades

Wire the lights on — the busiest trade route in this concentration

Electrician programs teach the hands-on craft of installing, operating, maintaining, and repairing electrical systems in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. About 3,003 credentials are awarded each year across 212 colleges — by far the largest footprint in the construction trades. These are associate's-level and certificate programs, not bachelor's majors.

Schools offering
212
Annual completions
3,003
Typical degree level
Associate's
Median earnings (5yr)
$76k

About this major

Electrician programs prepare you to install, operate, maintain, and repair electric apparatus and systems — from residential branch circuits to industrial motor controls and commercial power distribution. The CIP definition is deliberately broad: wiring, insulation and grounding, DC and AC motors, distribution panels, electrical testing and inspection, and applicable codes and standards. In practice, coursework is split roughly between classroom theory (electrical principles, math, blueprint reading, the National Electrical Code) and hands-on lab or shop time wiring panels, pulling cable, and troubleshooting faults. Most programs align with or count toward the hours needed for a registered apprenticeship and eventual state licensure.

The field fits students who like working with their hands, think in systems, and want a visible, testable result at the end of a workday. Strong pattern recognition helps — diagnosing why a circuit misbehaves is closer to debugging than to construction. Physical comfort matters too: the work involves ladders, confined spaces, and precision hand tools. Electrician is one of the few skilled trades where reading code manuals and schematics is a daily reality, so students who enjoy that kind of disciplined, rule-bound problem-solving tend to do well.

The major's footprint is the largest in this concentration by a wide margin. About 3,003 credentials are awarded annually across 212 colleges, dwarfing related tracks like Electrical and Power Transmission Installation/Installer, General (570 completions) and Carpentry (530). The top destinations are electrician (BLS median wage $62,350, 9.5% projected growth), first-line supervisor of construction trades ($78,690, 5.3% growth), and specialty paths like security and fire alarm installation (10.4% growth). Median earnings five years after completion run around $76,400 — a figure that reflects graduates already working under licensure, not fresh apprentices.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers $79k +5.3% High school diploma or equivalent
Electricians $62k +9.5% High school diploma or equivalent
Security and fire alarm systems installers $59k +10.4% High school diploma or equivalent
Signal and track switch repairers $84k +1.7% High school diploma or equivalent
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$76k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you like troubleshooting systems that either work or don't (no partial credit), you want a credential that pays from year one rather than year five, you're comfortable with code-driven precision work where a misread schematic has physical consequences, or you're drawn to a trade where the median electrician wage is $62,350 and completer earnings at five years run near $76,400 without requiring a bachelor's. Students who grew up tinkering with household wiring, car electrical systems, or simple electronics tend to find the curriculum feels like an upgrade rather than a leap.

Think twice if you dislike working in uncomfortable physical conditions — attics, crawl spaces, unfinished construction sites, and weather-exposed service work are standard. Think twice also if you want office-based or remote-capable work: electrical work is fundamentally on-site and hands-on, and the career trajectory doesn't route through a desk until supervisory or estimating roles much later. If your underlying interest is in engineering design of electrical systems rather than building and maintaining them, the related Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician track (cross-referenced as CIP 15.0303) is closer to that mindset and typically requires more math-heavy coursework.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Electrician

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose Park Melrose Park, IL 176 0 176
Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis, IN 162 0 162
SOWELA Technical Community College Lake Charles, LA 91 0 91
Community College of Allegheny County Pittsburgh, PA 82 0 82
New Castle School of Trades New Castle, PA 66 0 66
Los Angeles Trade Technical College Los Angeles, CA 62 0 62
Dunwoody College of Technology Minneapolis, MN 61 0 61
North Dakota State College of Science Wahpeton, ND 60 0 60
State Technical College of Missouri Linn, MO 59 0 59
Owensboro Community and Technical College Owensboro, KY 56 0 56
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Electrical and Power Transmission Installation/Installer, General

570 completions/yr

Carpentry/Carpenter

530 completions/yr

Construction Trades, General

519 completions/yr

Lineworker

441 completions/yr

Building/Property Maintenance

237 completions/yr

Electrical and Power Transmission Installers, Other

72 completions/yr

Mason/Masonry

43 completions/yr

Concrete Finishing/Concrete Finisher

6 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do electrician programs actually cover day-to-day?
Coursework runs from the principles of electricity and electronics into wiring, circuit design, motor control, AC/DC systems, and the National Electrical Code. Most of your time is in a lab wiring panels, bending conduit, and troubleshooting faults under supervision. You also study blueprint reading, job estimation, and safety procedures, since electrical work is closely governed by code. Programs usually combine classroom theory with shop hours and may feed into a registered apprenticeship.
Do I need a bachelor's, or is an associate's enough?
The data here shows associate's as the tracked degree level, and the BLS lists a high school diploma as the typical entry education for electricians themselves. A two-year program plus apprenticeship hours is the standard path — a bachelor's is not expected or common in this field. Annual median earnings five years out for completers come in around $76,400, which reflects graduates already working the trade. Moving into supervisory roles or running your own shop is driven by licensing and experience, not by stacking more degrees.
What jobs do graduates actually do?
The primary destination is electrician, with a BLS median wage of $62,350 and projected job growth of 9.5% — one of the faster-growing skilled trades. From there, experienced workers move into first-line supervisor of construction trades roles at a $78,690 median. Adjacent destinations include security and fire alarm systems installers ($59,300 median, 10.4% growth) and signal and track switch repairers ($83,600 median), which serve railways and transit systems. The five-year earnings figure of roughly $76,400 sits above the straight electrician median, suggesting completers often move into specialty or supervisory work.
How competitive is the job market?
Electricians show 9.5% projected growth, roughly double the economy-wide rate of 4-5%. The supply side is substantial — 3,003 completions per year across 212 colleges — but demand for residential, commercial, and industrial electrical work is structural and regionally inelastic, meaning the local labor market matters more than national supply counts. The work cannot be offshored, and adoption of EV charging, solar, and data center buildout is pulling demand even higher in many states. The main competition is other apprenticeship-trained electricians, not degree-holders in other fields.
What's the typical path after this major?
Most completers step into a journeyman-track apprenticeship with a contractor or union local, logging hours toward state electrical licensure. The two largest single-college pipelines in this data are Lincoln College of Technology-Melrose Park in Illinois (176 annual completions) and Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana (162), which both feed regional contractor networks. After licensing, paths split: residential, commercial, industrial, or specialty work like alarm systems or power transmission. Some graduates eventually transition into the broader Electrical and Power Transmission Installation/Installer, General track (570 annual completions) or into lineworker roles with utilities.