Traffic technician education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a traffic technician. Traffic technicians usually study business, electrical engineering, or computer science. 31% of traffic technicians hold a bachelor's degree, and 28% hold an high school diploma. We analyzed 389 real traffic technician resumes to see exactly what traffic technician education sections show.

The most common colleges for traffic technicians are the Delaware Technical Community College and the Delaware Technical Community College.

There are also many online traffic technician courses to help get the education required to be a traffic technician.

There are certain traffic technician certifications that you should consider. These traffic technician certifications include Commercial Driver License (CDL) and Traffic Control Technician (TCT).

What education do you need to become a traffic technician?

What degree do you need to be a traffic technician?

The most common degree for traffic technicians is bachelor's degree, with 31% of traffic technicians earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are high school diploma degree at 28% and high school diploma degree at 27%.

Bachelor's, 31%

High School Diploma, 28%

Associate, 27%

Diploma, 8%

Other Degrees, 6%

What should I major in to become a traffic technician?

You should major in business to become a traffic technician. 23% of traffic technicians major in business. Other common majors for a traffic technician include electrical engineering and computer science.

Business, 23%

Electrical Engineering, 10%

Computer Science, 8%

Civil Engineering, 8%

Other Majors, 51%

Most common colleges for traffic technicians

Traffic technicians often get their degrees at Delaware Technical Community College, University of Houston, and Roosevelt University. Here are the most common colleges for traffic technicians in the US based on their resumes.

Traffic technician common college	Percentages
Delaware Technical Community College	10.00%
University of Houston	6.67%
Roosevelt University	6.67%
Western Kentucky University	6.67%
Liberty University	6.67%

Show more common traffic technician colleges

Best majors for traffic technicians

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	22.9%
2	Electrical Engineering	10.2%
3	Computer Science	8.5%
4	Civil Engineering	7.6%
5	Electrical Engineering Technology	7.6%

Show more common traffic technician majors

Best colleges for traffic technicians

The best colleges for traffic technicians are Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University.

A traffic technician with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for traffic technicians. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become traffic technicians.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

4. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

5. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

6. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

7. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

8. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

9. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

10. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

20 best online courses for traffic technicians

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5. Creating Routing Policies to Handle Traffic with AWS Route53

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6. HTTPS Content-Based Load Balancer with Terraform

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9. MikroTik Traffic Control with LABS

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11. BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager(LTM) V13 Training

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17. Ultimate F5 LTM Training (v16) from Beginner to Expert 2023

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18. Master Course in Advanced SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

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Set Up Facebook Business Page & Meta Business Manager. Use Meta Business Suite. Launch Traffic & Lead Generation Ads...

20. Instagram Hashtags Basics For Beginners

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Top 10 most affordable universities for traffic technicians

The most affordable schools for traffic technicians are Baruch College of the City University of New York, california state university - bakersfield, and suny farmingdale.

If the best universities for traffic technicians are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for traffic technicians.

1. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

2. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

3. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

4. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

5. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

6. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

7. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

8. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

9. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

10. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,886

Cost of attendance

17,645

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for traffic technicians

The hardest universities for traffic technicians to get into are Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University.

Some great schools for traffic technicians are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for traffic technicians based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

3. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

5. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

6. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

7. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions rate

29%

SAT average

1,407

8. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

9. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

10. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,520

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for traffic technicians

The easiest schools for traffic technicians to get into are Notre Dame de Namur University, wayland baptist university, and barry university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a traffic technician without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for traffic technicians.

1. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

2. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

3. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

4. University of North Texas at Dallas

Dallas, TX • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

992

5. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

6. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

7. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

8. LIM College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

1,061

9. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

991

10. University of Baltimore

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,020

Average traffic technician salary by education level

Traffic technicians with a Bachelor's degree earn more than those without, at $44,934 annually. With a Associate degree, traffic technicians earn a median annual income of $39,405 compared to $37,942 for traffic technicians with an High School Diploma degree.

Traffic technician education level	Traffic technician salary
High School Diploma or Less	$37,942
Bachelor's Degree	$44,934
Some College/ Associate Degree	$39,405

Traffic technician education FAQs

What is the best college for Traffic Technicians?

Have more questions? See all answers to common transportation questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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