Mountain Empire Community College
Mountain Empire Community College offers career training with a strong focus on hands-on experience and industry-recognized certifications. The school provides programs in skilled trades like welding, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical work, often including shop experience and NCCER certification. MECC also emphasizes employer connections through its Workforce Solutions, which collaborates with regional businesses to offer customized training and maintain a competitive workforce.
Programs Analyzed
Avg Grad Earnings
Avg TradeSchoolOutlook Score
Tuition (In-State)
All Programs at Mountain Empire Community College
5 trade programs at Mountain Empire CC, ranked by TradeSchoolOutlook Score (combines earnings, ROI, AI resilience, and job market size). Use the “compare” links to see how this school’s programs stack up against others nationally.
| Program | Score | Earnings | Debt |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Nursing
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing Compare nationwide → Compare in VA → |
80 | $62,303/yr | — |
|
Practical Nursing
Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants Compare nationwide → Compare in VA → |
72 | $35,693/yr | — |
|
Allied Health Professions
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions Compare nationwide → Compare in VA → |
68 | $58,346/yr | — |
|
Mental Health Services
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions Compare nationwide → Compare in VA → |
62 | $29,551/yr | — |
|
Liberal Arts & Humanities
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities Compare nationwide → Compare in VA → |
36 | $20,005/yr | — |
Reading the table: Score combines earnings, ROI, AI resilience, and job market size on a 0–100 scale. Earnings = median first-year salary from College Scorecard. Debt = median federal debt at graduation (blank where Scorecard suppresses small samples). 10yr ROI = projected 10-year earnings ÷ in-state tuition. AI Risk reflects task-level AI exposure across mapped occupations. Job Market = annual openings nationwide for connected occupations.
More Trade Schools in Virginia
Top-scored trade schools elsewhere in Virginia, ranked by average TradeSchoolOutlook Score across their programs.
Apprenticeship Pathways in Virginia
Earn-while-you-learn alternatives in Virginia. Registered apprenticeships skip tuition and pay you during training, though training periods are typically longer.
Trade Schools Near Big Stone Gap
Other cities in Virginia with multiple trade schools, sorted by distance from Big Stone Gap.
About This Data
TradeSchoolOutlook analyzes 5 trade and vocational programs at Mountain Empire Community College using earnings data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024–2034).
The TradeSchoolOutlook Score (0–100) combines graduate earnings, return on investment, AI resilience, and job market size. AI Risk reflects task-level exposure for the occupations each program feeds into. Job Market shows the size of the national hiring pool. Programs without published debt figures had small reporting samples that the College Scorecard suppresses for privacy.