ROI Major

Air Transportation at Sinclair Community College

OH · Associate's Degree · CIP 49.01

Apply Now Data: 2026 release

Executive Summary

Graduates with a Air Transportation degree from Sinclair Community College earn a median salary of $52,636 within five years of graduation. Adjusted for the cost of living in OH, this represents a national purchasing power equivalent of $58,420. The degree typically pays for itself in 8.6 years.

Quick Insights

Slow Burn / High Debt Risk

How this degree looks at a glance

A fast read on salary range, break-even speed, living-cost impact, and where graduates from this school usually land.

Salary Ranges

Starting Range

$38,279

Typical Career

$52,636

Top Performers

$72,156

Estimated break-even: 8.6 years.

Debt-to-Income Check

$351

Estimated comfortable monthly loan payment

Typical monthly pay is approximately $4,386. Most students can comfortably afford about a $351 monthly loan payment with this degree.

Comparison Bench

This degree earns 1.4x more than the average US high school graduate and 0.7x more than the average college graduate.

Purchasing Power Context

A dollar in Ohio buys what costs $0.90 nationally.

Industry Breadcrumbs

Top industries for bachelor's graduates from this school: Health Care & Social Assistance, Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific & Technical Services.

Where Associate's Graduates from This School Work

Health Care & Social Assistance 33.8%
Manufacturing 9.6%
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services 8.1%

Institution-wide industry mix for graduates, 5 years after graduation. This is not major-specific. Source: Census PSEO Flows.

5-Year Median Salary — National Purchasing Power Equivalent

$58,420

Nominal: $52,636 in Ohio (COL 90.1% of national avg) · 11% higher purchasing power

10-Year Earnings Curve

Break-Even Timeline

How long until cumulative earnings advantage exceeds total college investment (tuition + opportunity cost vs. entering workforce directly after high school).

8.6 years to break even
Graduation 15 years

Total Investment

$155,168

4yr tuition + 4yr opportunity cost

HS Graduate Baseline

$38,792/yr

BLS 2023 median, HS diploma

View Raw Data: Median Earnings by Year
Timeframe 25th Pct. Median (50th) 75th Pct.
1 Year After Graduation $24,171 $37,041 $49,399
5 Years After Graduation $38,279 $52,636 $72,156
10 Years After Graduation $55,935 $98,392 $138,153

Source: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), 2025 release. Earnings shown for Bachelor's degree graduates (all cohorts combined).

How We Calculate Purchasing Power

The median salary of $52,636 is reported by the US Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset for graduates working in OH, which has a cost-of-living index of 90.1% of the national average.

Formula: Adjusted Salary = Nominal × (1.0 ÷ COL Index)
= $52,636 × (1.0 ÷ 0.9010) = $58,420 National Average equivalent.

COL index source: BLS Regional Consumer Price Index & MIT Living Wage Project, 2023. Full methodology →

Career Verdict

Graduates from the Air Transportation program at Sinclair Community College experience a significant earnings trajectory over time. One year after graduation, median earnings stand at $29,872, which increases to $44,060 after five years and reaches $71,728 after ten years. When adjusted for purchasing power, the five-year salary equivalent nationally is approximately $48,901.22, indicating that graduates can expect a competitive income relative to the cost of living in Ohio, where the cost-of-living index is 0.901 compared to the national average of 1.0.

The program's graduates primarily enter the Health Care & Social Assistance sector, which accounts for 33.8% of placements, followed closely by another segment of Health Care & Social Assistance at 31.8%, and Manufacturing at 17.1%. With an estimated break-even point of approximately 11.7 years compared to a high-school-only path, the return on investment for pursuing a degree in Air Transportation appears favorable. This suggests that graduates can expect to recoup their educational investment within a reasonable timeframe while entering industries with stable job prospects.

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Data sources: US Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO). Cost-of-living index: BLS Regional CPI & MIT Living Wage Project. Cost of attendance: IPEDS. For informational use only; data may be suppressed for small cohort sizes.