HVAC enrollment at two-year colleges up 18.7%

The research arm of nonprofit National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) on Thursday released its 2025 Final Fall Enrollment Trends report, including U.S. student body data across various post-secondary institutions. 

What’s happening: 30,944 students were enrolled in HVAC-specific programs at public, two-year colleges during the fall of 2025, according to the report, an 18.7 percent year-over-year increase.

• Why it matters: The HVAC industry will see over 40,000 job openings for technicians and installers annually through 2034, largely driven by retirements, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects. Growing enrollment suggests that the talent pipeline to fill those jobs is getting stronger. 

Go deeper: In the fall of 2020, 19,089 students were enrolled in HVAC programs, per NSC, with the figure rising only slightly through 2023 — and then jumping 25.5 percent year-over-year in fall 2024. 

• Since 2020, fall HVAC enrollment has grown 62 percent. 

Of note: “Postsecondary institutions actively submitting enrollment data to the Clearinghouse account for 97 percent of the total enrollments at Title IV, degree-granting institutions in the U.S.,” NSC’s website states.