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Major · Mechanic & Repair Technologies

Wire, signal, and certify the electronic side of every aircraft

Avionics Maintenance Technology (CIP 47.0609) trains you on aircraft electronic, instrument, navigation, communication, and radar systems — the wiring side of aviation rather than the engine or airframe side. About 305 students complete the program a year across 22 schools, with five-year tracked earnings near $60,426 and the avionics-technician SOC at $81,390 median wage with 8.2% projected growth.

Schools offering
22
Annual completions
305
Typical degree level
Associate's
Median earnings (5yr)
$60k

About this major

Avionics Maintenance Technology/Technician (CIP 47.0609) prepares you to repair, service, and maintain the electronic side of aircraft — flight instrumentation, communication and homing systems, radar and other sensory systems, navigation aids, and specialized electronic systems on civilian and military airframes. Coursework moves between AC/DC fundamentals, digital electronics, RF theory, antenna and transmission-line work, and aircraft wiring practices, with hangar lab time on real avionics benches and ramp-side troubleshooting. The federal credential structure governs the curriculum: programs co-located with FAA Part 147 mechanic schools let students stack an A&P with avionics, while the FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL) and the NCATT Aircraft Electronics Technician ladder become the practical hiring signals.

The major fits students who like working with their hands on small electronic assemblies, who can read schematics and trace signal paths under time pressure, and who prefer methodical fault isolation to abstract math. Solder skill, comfort with FAA documentation discipline, and patience for long line-replaceable-unit troubleshooting matter more than calculus ability. Veterans coming out of USAF 2A6X1 and Navy AT ratings often map directly into these programs.

Scale tells the rest of the story. About 305 students complete CIP 47.0609 each year across 22 institutions — thin supply against steady demand. The labor-market endpoint is Avionics Technicians (SOC 49-2091) at an $81,390 median wage with 8.2% projected growth, alongside aerospace engineering and operations technicians (17-3021) at $79,830 and 8.1% growth, and aircraft structure assemblers (51-2011) at $61,680 with -14.5% projected decline. Top program sites cluster near aviation and defense labor markets: Hallmark University in San Antonio (110 completions), North Central Institute near Fort Campbell (27), Middle Georgia State in Macon (26), and Cochise CCD near Fort Huachuca (25).

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
Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers $62k -14.5% High school diploma or equivalent
Avionics technicians $81k +8.2% Postsecondary nondegree award
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians $80k +8.1% 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

$60k

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

Associate's

$60k

Bachelor's

$77k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you can sit at a bench rework station for hours tracing a single intermittent fault on a multilayer circuit board without losing focus, you’d rather diagnose a glass-cockpit failure on a Gulfstream than swap brake pads, you understand that the FAA Repairman certificate and FCC GROL — not the associate’s itself — are what employers actually screen for, you’re open to relocating toward Part 147 schools and aviation hubs where Hallmark (San Antonio), Pittsburgh Institute, Spartan (CO/OK), or Wichita State Tech place graduates, and you’re drawn to the avionics-technician SOC (49-2091) at $81,390 median with 8.2% projected growth as a realistic five-year endpoint.

Think twice if rotating shifts and overnight line-station work on aircraft turnarounds won’t fit your life, the physical realities of confined-fuselage wiring and ramp work in heat, cold, and rain are dealbreakers, you’re drawn here mainly for the bachelor’s wage premium ($77,275 versus $59,760 for associate’s) without realizing it reflects supervisory and BSET tracks built on years of bench experience, or you actually want the named “aerospace engineer” title at $134,830 — Aerospace Engineering (CIP 14.0201) is the standard route, not this CIP. Reconsider if your real interest is structural or powerplant work; CIP 47.0607 (Airframe Mechanics) covers that lane on a separate FAA credential.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Avionics Maintenance Technology/Technician

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

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Hallmark University San Antonio, TX 110 0 110
North Central Institute Clarksville, TN 27 0 27
Middle Georgia State University Macon, GA 26 0 26
Cochise County Community College District Sierra Vista, AZ 25 0 25
Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics West Mifflin, PA 20 0 20
Wichita State University-Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology Wichita, KS 17 0 17
Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology Broomfield, CO 16 0 16
Utah State University Logan, UT 11 0 11
Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology Tulsa, OK 11 0 11
Enterprise State Community College Enterprise, AL 11 0 11
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician

10,351 completions/yr

Diesel Mechanics Technology/Technician

2,426 completions/yr

Industrial Technology/Technician

1,933 completions/yr

Airframe Mechanics and Aircraft Maintenance Technology/Technician

1,506 completions/yr

Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician

1,277 completions/yr

Chemical Technology/Technician

1,095 completions/yr

Instrumentation Technology/Technician

1,036 completions/yr

Biomedical Technology/Technician

652 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

How is Avionics Maintenance different from being an A&P aircraft mechanic?
An A&P mechanic (CIP 47.0607) holds the FAA Airframe & Powerplant certificate and works on structures and engines, while an avionics technician handles the aircraft’s electrical, electronic, instrument, navigation, radar, and communication systems. The packet ties this CIP to the Avionics Technicians SOC (49-2091) at $81,390 median wage and 8.2% projected growth, slightly higher than the airframe-mechanic median. Many programs are FAA Part 147 schools that pair an A&P with avionics specialization, and many employers prefer technicians who hold both. Job titles you’ll see include avionics installer, avionics bench technician, and line-station avionics tech.
What credentials matter most beyond the associate’s degree?
The associate’s is the academic vehicle, but three credentials drive hiring: an FAA Repairman certificate (granted on-the-job at a Part 145 repair station rather than at school), the FCC General Radiotelephone Operator License (the GROL, required to repair transmitters on aircraft), and the NCATT/AET technician ladder. Programs co-located with FAA Part 147 mechanic schools — Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, Spartan College of Aeronautics, and Cochise County Community College in the packet — let you stack avionics with an A&P, which most employers prefer. The packet lists postsecondary nondegree award as the typical entry credential for avionics technicians (49-2091), so the certifications carry more weight than a four-year degree.
What kinds of jobs and employers do graduates end up at?
Graduates split across several distinct sectors. Airline maintenance bases hire avionics technicians at American, Delta, United, and Southwest line stations. MROs (maintenance, repair, and overhaul shops) such as AAR, ST Engineering, HAECO, and Lufthansa Technik run heavy-check avionics work. Business and general aviation employers — Gulfstream, Textron Aviation, Bombardier, Embraer service centers — fly steady cabin-electronics and retrofit work. Defense contractors (L3Harris, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin) and DoD field-service roles add a clearance-driven premium, and commercial-space programs at SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Rocket Lab now recruit avionics-trained technicians for ground systems and integration. The packet also names aerospace engineering and operations technicians (17-3021) at $79,830, an adjacent destination that some BSET-track graduates step into.
How tight is the program supply, and where are the schools?
Supply is genuinely thin: 305 completions a year across only 22 institutions, all at the associate’s level in the packet. The largest feeders concentrate around aviation labor markets — Hallmark University in San Antonio (110 completions, the dominant program), North Central Institute in Clarksville TN near Fort Campbell (27), Middle Georgia State in Macon (26), Cochise County CCD in Sierra Vista AZ near Fort Huachuca (25), Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (20), Wichita State Tech (17), Spartan College in Broomfield CO and Tulsa OK (16 and 11), and Utah State (11). Several sit near military bases that feed the veteran avionics pipeline. Verify FAA Part 147 status, FCC GROL pass rates, and NCATT placement before signing tuition.
Is the military a faster route into avionics work?
Yes, and it’s the most common alternative path. The Air Force avionics specialty (AFSC 2A6X1), Navy Aviation Electronics Technician (AT) rating, and Army 15Q (Air Traffic Control) and 15-series aviation MOSs put you on real flight-line avionics within the first enlistment, often with hands-on time on F-35, V-22, P-8, or rotorcraft mission systems. Veterans typically separate already holding most NCATT/AET equivalencies and an active or interim clearance, which lets them walk into defense-contractor roles at L3Harris, Northrop, or Raytheon without a civilian degree. The packet shows several civilian feeder programs sited near bases — North Central Institute (Fort Campbell), Cochise CCD (Fort Huachuca), Enterprise State CC (Fort Novosel) — that pair veteran credentialing with an associate’s for clearance-track employers.
Where can I pivot if I want out of aircraft work later?
The skill set is portable. The IPC J-STD-001 soldering certification, RF and instrumentation troubleshooting, and FAA-grade documentation discipline transfer to medical-device manufacturing, semiconductor capital-equipment field service (Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA), industrial instrumentation (Instrumentation Technology CIP 15.0404, 1,036 completions), and broader aerospace-tech work (CIP 15.0801 at $79,830 median, +8.1% growth). The associate’s/bachelor’s split in the data — $59,760 versus $77,275 — points toward supervisory or BSET tracks for graduates who later add a four-year credential. Graduates rarely pivot into Aerospace Engineering (CIP 14.0201) without a separate ABET-EAC bachelor’s, but many transition into program management or quality engineering after a decade on the bench.