Best Automotive Schools in the Midwest

There is one region that holds many of the top trade schools in the US. We are here to present the 5 best automotive schools in the Midwest!

Best Automotive Schools by Region: Midwest

Welcome to week 3 of the Best Automotive Schools by Region! This week was probably the most challenging out of all because of the amount of high-caliber schools located in this region, the Midwest. Not only are we looking at the best automotive schools in the Midwest, we are looking at some of the best automotive schools across the entire nation! Just so we are all on the same page, these are the states we are looking at: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Before we begin, you may notice that some of the schools in this list are included in a different order in our top 10 in the nation list. This is the result of a few things, the most influential being the inclusion of new and more recent data. So, many of the schools listed below are familiar but we used the most up-to-date information to identify the best automotive schools in the Midwest. We hope this helps you either start your trade school search or help you decide on your dream school!

Criteria for the Best Automotive Schools

To determine which schools were in fact the best automotive schools in the Midwest, we had to come up with a few parameters. To start, we looked at graduation rate. We decided that this was an important first step as it gives a glimpse into the student body’s view of the school. If students enjoy the school, they should have a higher graduation rate. With smaller community colleges, this isn’t as important because one of their main goals is to get students to transfer to larger universities. Next, we examined the median salary of former students 10 years after they attended the school. Third, we found the average annual cost to attend each school before finally ending with the average debt a student graduates with.
Although these aren’t all the factors that go into making a college great, they can help us get a glimpse into the caliber of certain schools. Before we made our final picks, we then went through and made sure that each school was a certified program by the ASE Education Foundation. Although we cannot guarantee your financial situation will match any of the numbers we have presented, we can guarantee that each of the 5 best automotive schools in the Midwest offer something great. In order to find all of this information, we utilized the amazing tools from College Scorecard.
  1. Graduation Rate
  2. Salary After Graduation
  3. Annual Cost
  4. Debt Upon Graduation

Best Automotive Schools in the Midwest

1. Salina Area Technical College

  • Salina, KS
  • Graduation Rate: 73%
  • Salary After Attending: $32,000
  • Annual Cost: $6,673
  • Debt upon Graduation: $5,500
There are many things that add to Salina Tech being the best automotive school in the Midwest. For starters, the school has been able to sustain small class sizes of 18 to 1, creating an intimate learning environment. Along with that, each program within Salina Tech has 90%-95% job placement in the desired field. This creates great training and opportunity for you!

2. Frontier Community College

  • Fairfield, IL
  • Graduation Rate: 71%
  • Salary After Attending: $26,600
  • Annual Cost: $2,400
  • Debt upon Graduation: $5,500
Being the youngest of four schools included in the Illinois Eastern Community College system, Frontier Community College is the second best automotive school in the Midwest. FCC caters to all ages of students as it splits almost 50%-50% between students under 24 and students older than 24. In 2018 the school awarded over 250 degrees and certificates, and it seeks to award even more to great students like you.

3. North Central Kansas Technical College

  • Beloit, KS
  • Graduation Rate: 72%
  • Salary After Attending: $39,600
  • Annual Cost: $12,251
  • Debt upon Graduation: $9,500
NCK Tech attracts great students through its amazing educators. In fact, the 3rd best automotive school in the Midwest has one of the top educators around leading its automotive programs, Richard Cox. Cox was recently recognized as 2019’s educator of the year by Vision Hi-Tech Training. This high quality education is not new as the school has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1981.

4. Ranken Technical College

  • Saint Louis, MO
  • Graduation Rate: 59%
  • Salary After Attending: $48,400
  • Annual Cost: $15,479
  • Debt upon Graduation: $12,075
Ranken Technical College has committed to treating its students as industry professionals from the start. This is shown by their commitment to providing 3 hours of hands-on, lab work for every 1 hour of classroom work. This isn’t new to the St. Louis area because the 4th best automotive school in the Midwest has been established in the same location for over 100 years.

5. State Technical College of Missouri

  • Linn, MO
  • Graduation Rate: 64%
  • Salary After Attending: $39,900
  • Annual Cost: $10,288
  • Debt upon Graduation: $10,421
As Missouri’s first and only public institution that has devoted all of its time and resources to educating students in technical industries, State Tech finds itself as the fifth best automotive school in the Midwest. State Tech offers more than 35 programs in both traditional and emerging technologies. Along with that, the school has a 97% placement in a related career or further education within 6 months of graduation. This school will get you where you want to go!

Locations of Midwest Best Schools

1. Salina Area Technical College

2562 Centennial Rd
Salina, KS 67401

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2. Frontier Community College

2 Frontier Drive
Fairfield, IL 62837-2601

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3. North Central Kansas Technical College

3033 US HWY 24
Beloit, Kansas 67420

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4. Ranken Technical College

4431 Finney Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63113

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5. State Technical College of Missouri

One Technology Drive
Linn, MO 65051

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Choose Your School Wisely

As we suggested last week and we will continue to suggest, look into these 5 best automotive schools in the Midwest and many more! The Midwest has so much to offer when it comes to trade schools, especially if you want to become a mechanic. Many of the top trade schools in the nation are located here and there are too many great schools to include in this list. Take into account the location you want to be in, your price-range, and even your personal relationships with instructors. All of these will greatly add to your automotive training experience!

Of course, we can always help! We have many different resources to help aspiring auto mechanics find the right school to be successful. One major resource we provide is our scholarship, so be sure you check that out! Along with that, if you know exactly what state you want to study in, we have a list of each automotive school by state you can search. In the end, maybe you need some extra help or just want to talk to someone about this process, we are here for that! Fill out our contact form so we can get in touch.

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