Critical industries · NCES IPEDS Completions, 2000–2025
Americans run the grid. Some of these pipelines are vanishingly small.
Every other page on this site asks who gets the degree. Ask that about the electrical grid and the answer is already settled. Electrician credentials are 0.2% non-resident. Lineworker credentials are 0.3%. Americans earn essentially all of these credentials.
So the question worth asking here is not who. It is how many.
Two limits apply to every figure on this page, and they apply before the figures are read. This counts credentials awarded, not people working: a credential is not a job and not a career. And IPEDS covers institutions that take Title IV federal aid, so the trades are undercounted — much electrical and line work is learned in union or employer apprenticeships, IBEW and NECA among them, which award no IPEDS credential and appear nowhere here. For the trades these counts are a floor on the pipeline, not the pipeline. The power plant and engineering numbers do not have that problem, because colleges award those credentials.
62
power plant technology credentials awarded in 2025, in the entire country
at 5 institutions
78
nuclear power technology credentials, every level combined
down 54.1% in ten years
83,102
credentials across every programme on this page
generation, transmission, the trade and the engineering
90.3%
of those credentials went to Americans
this pipeline is domestic; the question is its size
The programmes with the fewest graduates
These are national totals. Not per state, not per region — the whole United States, every award level from a short certificate upward.
| Programme | Awards, 2025 | Institutions |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plant Technology CIP 15.1702 | 62 | 5 |
| Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology CIP 41.0205 | 78 | 8 |
| Electrical and Power Transmission Installers, Other CIP 46.0399 | 94 | 5 |
| Ocean Engineering CIP 14.2401 | 263 | 15 |
| Nuclear Engineering CIP 14.2301 | 914 | 30 |
| Industrial Electronics Technology CIP 47.0105 | 1,207 | 71 |
A programme that awarded nothing in 2025 is left out: that is a pipeline that has closed, not a small one.
Every programme, by what it staffs
Awards in the latest year, how many institutions award them, the ten-year change, and the non-resident share — which is small everywhere except the engineering.
Generation · 1,054 awards, 9.5% non-resident
| Programme | Awards, 2025 | Institutions | 10-year change | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Engineering CIP 14.2301 | 914 | 30 | -17.6% | 10.8% |
| Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology CIP 41.0205 | 78 | 8 | -54.1% | 1.3% |
| Power Plant Technology CIP 15.1702 | 62 | 5 | — | 0.0% |
Transmission and distribution · 3,356 awards, 0.2% non-resident
| Programme | Awards, 2025 | Institutions | 10-year change | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lineworker CIP 46.0303 | 1,973 | 60 | +39.0% | 0.3% |
| Electrical and Power Transmission Installation, General CIP 46.0301 | 1,289 | 43 | -8.5% | 0.2% |
| Electrical and Power Transmission Installers, Other CIP 46.0399 | 94 | 5 | -16.8% | 0.0% |
Electrical trade and technicians · 28,265 awards, 0.6% non-resident
| Programme | Awards, 2025 | Institutions | 10-year change | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician CIP 46.0302 | 22,058 | 414 | +63.2% | 0.2% |
| Electrical and Electronics Engineering Technology CIP 15.0303 | 5,000 | 316 | -53.6% | 2.4% |
| Industrial Electronics Technology CIP 47.0105 | 1,207 | 71 | -41.3% | 0.2% |
Engineering that designs it · 26,532 awards, 28.9% non-resident
| Programme | Awards, 2025 | Institutions | 10-year change | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical and Electronics Engineering CIP 14.1001 | 26,269 | 423 | -10.2% | 29.1% |
| Ocean Engineering CIP 14.2401 | 263 | 15 | -17.3% | 13.7% |
The buildings that hang off it · 23,895 awards, 0.3% non-resident
| Programme | Awards, 2025 | Institutions | 10-year change | Non-resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC and Refrigeration Maintenance Technology CIP 47.0201 | 17,853 | 513 | -2.0% | 0.3% |
| HVAC and Refrigeration Engineering Technology CIP 15.0501 | 6,042 | 132 | -15.0% | 0.5% |
Method and limits
This page counts credentials awarded. It does not count workers, and a credential is not a career.
- IPEDS covers institutions that take Title IV federal aid. Much electrical and line work is learned in union or employer apprenticeships that award no IPEDS credential, so for the trades these counts are a floor on the pipeline rather than the pipeline.
- A credential awarded is not a worker hired, and not a worker who stayed in the field.
- Programmes are matched by CIP code. A college that teaches line work inside a broader electrical programme is counted under that broader code.
- 'Non-resident alien' is the IPEDS category: a student on a temporary visa. Permanent residents count as domestic.
Built by scripts/build_grid_capacity.py from
NCES IPEDS Completions, all award levels, 2000-2025.
The composition question — who gets the degree — is on
the industry pages.