Is Laurel Technical Institute Worth It?

The financial return at Laurel Technical Institute is weak, and the median tells the story: ten years out, the typical graduate earns about $28,000, close to what full-time minimum-wage work pays in many places. That number sits below the associate degree in allied health diagnostics, the one program here that clears $42,000, which means most of your fellow graduates end up in lower-paying fields dragging the median down.

Your program choice decides everything at this school. The allied health diagnostic associate is the only path that pays back its cost, though it also carries the highest debt at nearly $20,000. Precision metal working, a certificate, lands around $30,000 with no debt figure that threatens you. The medical assisting associate and the cosmetology certificate are the losers here: cosmetology graduates earn around $17,000, below what most jobs requiring no credential pay, so that program is hard to justify financially even at its low debt of under $8,000.

The specific risk is that the credential you earn may not move your earnings much. A 74% graduation rate is high for a for-profit two-year school, so finishing is likely, but finishing cosmetology or medical assisting still leaves you near the bottom of the earnings range. Debt stays modest across the board, which limits the damage.

This school fits you if you enter the allied health diagnostic or precision metal working track and want a fast, low-debt credential tied to a specific Hermitage-area job. Look elsewhere if you are drawn to cosmetology or general medical assisting.

On price, the middle tiers are odd: families earning $30,000 to $48,000 pay under $5,000, the cheapest of any group, while families above $48,000 pay $10,000 to $14,000. If your family income lands in that lower band, the aid math works in your favor here.