UTI vs. Lincoln Tech: A Comparison From the Data

What UTI and Lincoln Tech Cover

Both are private for-profit chains with campuses in several states. Here a chain means the campuses listed as Universal Technical Institute, for UTI, and as Lincoln Technical Institute or Lincoln College of Technology, for Lincoln Tech. A campus can hold ranked programs in more than one trade, and each program is ranked in its own trade.

The overlap is automotive and diesel, where both chains hold ranked programs. Only UTI has ranked collision repair and aviation maintenance programs. The auto mechanic school ranking and the diesel mechanic school ranking carry every campus mentioned here.

UTI vs. Lincoln Tech Prices

Both chains price the whole program, not the year, so every figure below is tuition and required fees for the program, with its length beside it. The median length of a chain's programs is the middle of the lengths its campuses report.

In automotive, a Lincoln Tech program prices at a median of $36,580 for the program and a UTI program at $44,250 for the program. In diesel the figures are $37,015 for the program and $41,098 for the program. UTI's collision repair programs price at $28,480 for the program and $47,650 for the program, and its aviation maintenance programs at $48,750 for the program and $52,765 for the program. The campus in Canton, MI prices its aviation program by the year instead, at $17,943 a year.

Graduation Rates and Graduate Earnings

Graduation rates are IPEDS figures for the whole campus within 150 percent of normal time. They describe the campus, not one program. Across its campuses UTI runs 60 to 75 percent with a median of 66, and Lincoln Tech runs 57 to 79 percent with a median of 68.

Earnings come from the College Scorecard, which prints one figure for the graduates of a school's mechanic and repair programs at one credential level, and prints the same figure for every campus that reports under one federal ID. So the figures below are counted once per ID and level, not once per campus. UTI's campuses carry 7 distinct figures, from $49,381 to $60,060 with a median of $58,012. Lincoln Tech's campuses carry two, $50,285 and $50,593. All are median earnings of graduates working and not enrolled four years after completing.

Where Each Chain Ranks

The rankings score every program on cost, graduate earnings, completion and track record, within its trade. The highest-ranked program of each chain in the two trades they share:

UTI's collision repair programs rank #10 and #12 of 59, and its highest-ranked aviation program is Universal Technical Institute-Canton, Canton, MI: #30 of 148. The methodology page shows how the five factors are weighted.

Chain Prices and Community College Prices

The chains and the community colleges quote different kinds of price, so the units do the comparing. A ranked public college program that prices by the year has a median of $4,613 a year across 474 programs. A UTI or Lincoln Tech program prices the whole program, at $37,010 for the program (Lincoln Tech) and $43,400 for the program (UTI) at the median. The mechanic school cost guide has both kinds of price for every trade, and the cheapest mechanic schools ranking lists the lowest.

Related Pages

• Mechanic School Cost by State: Median Prices Compared The median yearly tuition and fees the ranked programs report in each state with enough priced programs to compare, with the price kinds kept apart.
• Most Common Manufacturer Programs at Ranked Schools How often each carmaker and equipment-maker training program appears among the accredited programs this site ranks, and the states where they cluster.
• Auto Mechanic Schools ASE accredited automotive programs, ranked nationally 415
• Diesel Mechanic Schools ASE accredited diesel and heavy truck programs 76
• Aviation Mechanic Schools FAA Part 147 aviation maintenance schools 148
• Auto Body and Collision Repair Schools ASE accredited collision repair and refinishing programs 59
• What Mechanic School Costs Yearly and whole-program prices by trade and school type
• Cheapest Mechanic Schools Accredited schools by published tuition and fees, lowest first 497
• How We Rank