By Matt Jachman

ENROLLMENT INCREASE: The number of students enrolled in various HVACR training programs rose significantly between 2024 and 2025, according to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Courtesy of the ESCO Group.

Enrollment in college-level HVACR training programs in the U.S. jumped this year, an encouraging development for educators and others trying to help people find a career path in the trades.  

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC), which keeps track of U.S college enrollment statistics, an estimated 25,971 people were enrolled this spring in two-year HVACR programs at schools that offer associate degrees — a nearly 29% increase compared to spring 2024, when some 20,153 were enrolled.  

Other types of post-secondary HVACR programs also saw substantial increases, year over year, according to NSCRC. There were an estimated 761 students in four-year HVACR programs this spring, compared to 502 a year earlier, and an estimated 1,922 enrolled in HVACR programs at schools that primarily offer associate degrees but also offer some bachelor’s degrees, compared to 1,451 in 2024. (The NSCRC classifies schools that offer both associate and bachelor’s degrees differently from those that offer only two-year degrees.)  

HVACR education professionals said the numbers show their efforts are bearing fruit.

“The statistical growth of enrollment in the HVACR industry is validation that recruitment efforts from the industry are paying off,” said Clifton Beck, director of digital media at the ESCO Institute, which develops standards and curricula for HVACR and building science education and provides training and professional development.  

The HVACR enrollment increase, if sustained, could be part of the answer to a shortage of technicians in an industry that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), needs to hire an estimated 40,100 new workers each year to keep pace with growth and replace those who leave the profession.  

Efforts to recruit people to HVACR careers are working, Beck said, and perhaps more young people are turning toward careers that they see as offering a better return on their educational investment than many college degree programs.

“The Wall Street Journal has been regularly reporting on Gen Z and their view of a better ROI in the trades than many traditional college programs,” Beck said.  

Daniel Quinonez, executive director of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors—National Association Educational Foundation, said enrollment in the PHCC Academy’s training programs is growing as well. State-level PHCC chapters that have brick-and-mortar training facilities are also seeing more trainees, Quinonez said, as are other industry groups, such as the United Association, a union that represents workers in several trades, including HVACR.  

The benefits of a career as an HVACR technician are becoming more widely recognized, said Quinonez, who is also the PHCC’s COO. Those include, he added, good pay, job stability, professional development opportunities, and opportunities for career growth and starting one’s own company. Plus, he said, HVACR technicians are safe from an artificial intelligence (AI) takeover of their jobs.  

“The last few years, you’re seeing a wakeup call, that parents are actively encouraging their kids to get into the trades, and looking at and hearing about success stories from family members (and) friends ... seeing the success and the stability there,” he said.  

“As AI and other learning models begin replacing the human workforce, there is no better career opportunity than those in the HVACR automations and technology sectors,” said Beck. Beck added that, with the increasing need for computer data centers, “data center HVACR technicians are quickly becoming the highest-paid and most in-demand roles in our industry.”

Kate Cinnamo, executive director of Explore The Trades (ETT), a nonprofit that encourages young people to take up careers in HVACR, plumbing, or electrical work, said the enrollment increase tracks with the group’s efforts, which are largely directed toward high schoolers and middle school students. ETT offers resources for learning about trades careers to students, parents, and educators. Some 19% of U.S. school districts are using ETT materials, according to the group’s website.  

Cinnamo said she’d like to see more investment in HVACR recruitment from the industry. That could take the form of the kinds of partnerships between schools and local contractors that ETT arranges, she said.  

“It’s those kinds of relationships and partnerships that can really expose the kids to what the field is,” Cinnamo said.  

Beck, at the ESCO Institute, said he wants to see continued involvement in educational programs from HVACR manufacturers in order to keep training up to date as technology evolves.  

Matt Jachman is an editor at the ACHR NEWS. He has 30-plus years of experience in community journalism and a bachelor’s degree in English from Wayne State University in Detroit.