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Major · Engineering Technologies

The catch-all applied credential for industrial production systems not covered elsewhere

Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, Other is the CIP catch-all for applied-engineering programs in industrial production that don't fit narrower categories. About 733 degrees are awarded annually across 52 colleges — concentrated in Louisiana community colleges supporting the state's petrochemical sector. Five-year median earnings run roughly $79,209.

Schools offering
52
Annual completions
733
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$79k

About this major

Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, Other is a CIP catch-all for applied-engineering programs in industrial production that don't fit narrower codes. The framing is deliberately broad: any instructional program in industrial production technologies not listed elsewhere. In practice, that means the curriculum you get depends heavily on which school is offering it. The top programs by completions — River Parishes Community College and SOWELA Technical Community College — both serve Louisiana's petrochemical corridor and emphasize process operations, plant instrumentation, and industrial safety. Bachelor's-granting programs at Ferris State, Wayne State College, and Northwest Missouri State lean toward production management, systems analysis, and quality control. The shared thread is applied industrial engineering principles: process analysis, production planning, quality methods, and hands-on plant operations.

The major tends to attract students interested in the operational side of manufacturing and process industries — the kind of work that keeps plants running, finds bottlenecks, and improves production systems. Comfort with technical systems, basic statistics, and process thinking matters more than abstract mathematics. The strong regional concentration in the completion data suggests most students enter programs with specific employers in mind; applying sight-unseen to a general 'industrial production' program is less common than in broader fields.

The scale numbers tell a concentrated story. About 733 degrees per year across 52 colleges, with degree levels split between associate's and bachelor's. The single tracked career, industrial engineering technologists and technicians, shows 1.7% projected growth at a $64,790 median wage. But five-year earnings for this major run about $79,209 — well above the occupation median, suggesting graduates often move into production supervision, plant operations, and quality-engineering roles that pay above the narrow technician tier.

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
Industrial engineering technologists and technicians $65k +1.7% Associate's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

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

Median 5-year earnings

$79k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$79k

Bachelor's

$80k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you're drawn to the operational reality of production — how a plant or factory actually functions, where the bottlenecks sit, how quality systems get enforced, and what it takes to keep complex processes running safely at scale. You may also fit well if you're targeting a specific regional employer pipeline: the top-completing programs feed directly into Louisiana's petrochemical corridor or Midwest manufacturing clusters, and that kind of direct-pipeline program tends to produce faster career starts than a general industrial technology program would. Strong earnings support the investment — five-year median runs about $79,209 across degree levels.

Think twice if you're choosing this major without a specific target industry or regional employer in mind, because the 'other' CIP designation means the program's value depends heavily on each school's industry ties; a broader credential like Industrial Technology/Technician (1,933 annual completions across 163 colleges) or Manufacturing Engineering Technology (1,695 completions, 263 colleges) offers more employer recognition nationally. Think twice also if you want rapid job growth in your target occupation — the 1.7% projected growth rate for industrial engineering technicians is modest. And think twice if you prefer academic breadth over applied specialization; this track rewards students who already know roughly what operational environment they want to work in.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, Other

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

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
River Parishes Community College Gonzales, LA 93 0 93
SOWELA Technical Community College Lake Charles, LA 87 0 87
Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI 0 59 59
Washtenaw Community College Ann Arbor, MI 50 0 50
University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo Arecibo, PR 6 40 46
Baton Rouge Community College Baton Rouge, LA 43 0 43
Wayne State College Wayne, NE 0 40 40
Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO 0 30 30
Nunez Community College Chalmette, LA 27 0 27
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Perkinston, MS 26 0 26
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Science Technologies/Technicians, Other

2,437 completions/yr

Industrial Technology/Technician

1,933 completions/yr

Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician

1,695 completions/yr

Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, Other

1,150 completions/yr

Electromechanical Technologies/Technicians, Other

550 completions/yr

Audiovisual Communications Technologies/Technicians, Other

465 completions/yr

Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Other

409 completions/yr

Welding Engineering Technology/Technician

132 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do industrial production technology majors actually study?
Because this is a CIP 'other' category, coursework varies substantially by school and by the industries each program serves. Programs at River Parishes Community College and SOWELA Technical Community College — the top two by completions — are oriented toward Louisiana's petrochemical and process-industry workforce, emphasizing process operations, instrumentation, and plant safety. Other programs at bachelor's-granting schools like Ferris State University or Wayne State College lean toward production management, systems analysis, and quality control. The common thread is applied industrial engineering principles — process analysis, production planning, quality methods, and hands-on operations work.
Do I need a bachelor's, or is an associate's enough?
The single tracked career — industrial engineering technologists and technicians — lists associate's degree as typical education, and the associate's completers in this major report $78,816 median at five years versus $79,518 for bachelor's completers. The earnings premium for the longer degree is small in this field. That said, programs like Ferris State, Wayne State, and Northwest Missouri State offer bachelor's pathways that lead into supervisory and production-management roles where the four-year credential carries more weight. For pure technician work, the associate's is aligned with the occupation.
What kinds of jobs do industrial production graduates end up in?
The primary destination is industrial engineering technologists and technicians, at a $64,790 median wage with 1.7% projected growth. In practice, graduates work in process plants, refineries, manufacturing facilities, and distribution operations — running production data, supporting process improvement projects, maintaining quality systems, and operating or supervising production equipment. The Louisiana community-college graduates tend to flow into the state's petrochemical corridor; Midwest bachelor's graduates often enter production supervision and operations management paths at regional manufacturers.
How competitive is the job market?
The target career's 1.7% projected growth is modest — below the economy-wide average of roughly 4-5%. However, the five-year earnings picture ($79,209 median) runs well above the occupation's median wage ($64,790), suggesting graduates often move into higher-paying adjacent roles — process technicians, plant operators, production supervisors, and quality engineers — that aren't narrowly captured by the single BLS occupation code. About 733 completions per year across 52 colleges is a moderate supply. Regional demand is highly concentrated: Louisiana and Gulf Coast petrochemical hiring, plus Midwest manufacturing clusters, dominate.
Is this the right major, or should I look at a narrower program?
The 'other' CIP category means the major is effectively defined by the school offering it. If you want a clearly scoped industrial production program, Industrial Technology/Technician (1,933 annual completions across 163 colleges) and Manufacturing Engineering Technology (1,695 completions, 263 colleges) are the largest parent fields with more employer recognition nationally. If your specific interest is petrochemical process work, the Louisiana programs in this CIP often have stronger employer pipelines than a general industrial technology program. For process-heavy work, Chemical Technology/Technician may also be worth comparing.
What about earnings over a career?
Five-year median earnings for this major run about $79,209 — notably strong relative to the associate's credential level. The occupation's $64,790 median wage is the reference point for pure technician work, but graduates often reach operator, supervisor, and quality roles that pay above that floor. Earnings growth typically comes through specialization — process safety, Six Sigma and lean manufacturing credentials, SCADA and control-systems expertise — and through moving into production management, where total compensation often exceeds $100,000 at senior levels. The programs with strongest employer pipelines (Louisiana petrochemical, Midwest manufacturing) tend to produce faster salary progression than programs without established hiring relationships.