Which North Carolina HVAC Programs Teach Heat Pumps?

A heat pump heats and cools a home with the same refrigerant circuit, running in one direction in summer and reversing in winter. That makes it a mix of everything an HVAC tech learns: refrigeration, electrical controls, airflow and heating. If you want heat pump skills from day one, it helps to know which North Carolina programs actually teach them, and which ones give you a credential with “heat pump” in the name.

The Short List: Six Colleges With a Heat Pump Certificate

North Carolina’s community colleges share a state HVAC curriculum, but only some of them package a certificate around heat pumps. These six do:

A heat pump certificate is usually one piece of a larger ladder. You can earn it on its own, then keep going to a diploma or degree without starting over.

Who Each One Suits

• Davidson-Davie Community College is the pick if you want to start soon. Its one-year, 37-credit diploma can start in fall, spring or summer, and emphasis certificates cover heat pumps, residential heating and cooling, and residential system design.
• Gaston College suits working adults near Charlotte. It offers day and night classes, and its diploma graduates can continue into Gaston’s Electrical Systems Technology program. It reports a 63% graduation rate for its Fall 2021 cohort.
• Montgomery Community College in Troy runs its degree, diploma and certificates as a day program. It publishes lengths for each: the Heat Pump Certificate is 16 semester hours, the diploma 38 and the AAS 66.
• Roanoke-Chowan Community College in Ahoskie serves the northeastern part of the state with a degree, a diploma and three certificates, including heat pumps and mechanical installation.
• Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury has the widest menu: seven certificates, including heat pump, HVAC design and commercial, beside the diploma and AAS. It conferred 98 HVAC awards in 2024-25, second only to Wake Tech statewide.
• Wayne Community College in Goldsboro pairs its heat pump certificate with EPA 608 preparation, and notes students may pay a $25 EPA refrigerant certification fee.

Full Programs That Teach Heat Pumps and Geothermal

Thirteen more North Carolina community colleges include heat pumps and geothermal systems in their coursework without a separate heat pump certificate. Students in these programs cover heat pumps as part of the diploma or degree.

Charlotte, the Piedmont and the Mountains

• Catawba Valley Community College, Hickory. An associate degree that also covers controls, building automation, codes and load calculation. See the Hickory schools page.
• Stanly Community College, Albemarle. A 42-credit diploma with a part-time pathway, plus 14-credit basic and 22-credit intermediate certificates.
• Southwestern Community College, Sylva. A diploma and certificate. Applications are paused until January 2027 for the Fall 2027 semester.
• Tri-County Community College, Murphy. An AAS and a diploma in the far western corner of the state.

Raleigh, Sandhills and the East

• Johnston Community College, Smithfield. A 68-credit degree, a 37-credit diploma and five certificates, including commercial building automation. Johnston conferred 65 HVAC awards in 2024-25.
• Fayetteville Technical Community College. A 67-credit AAS over 5 semesters, a diploma and a basic certificate. FTCC conferred 76 awards.
• Richmond Community College, Hamlet. An AAS, a diploma, and air conditioning and heating certificates, with in-state tuition of $1,956, among the lowest in the state.
• Sampson Community College, Clinton. A degree, a 37-credit diploma and a 17-credit certificate. The diploma covers the EPA license along with refrigerant charging and piping procedures.
• Wilson Community College, Wilson. An AAS, a diploma and four certificates, including an HVAC Comfort Advisor certificate. Basic HVAC Certificate students may take the Section 608 EPA exam.
• Robeson Community College, Lumberton. A 71-credit AAS and a diploma.
• Pitt Community College, Winterville. Students can pick up diplomas and certificates on the way to the AAS.

The Coast

• Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington. A diploma plus general and commercial refrigeration certificates, and HVAC apprenticeships with four named Wilmington-area contractors. Cape Fear conferred 47 HVAC awards in 2024-25.
• Coastal Carolina Community College, Jacksonville. A 65-semester-hour AAS, a 44-semester-hour diploma, and stacked certificates from basic refrigeration to HVAC design and installation, run in an evening program. Coastal reports a 49% graduation rate for its Fall 2021 cohort.

Browse more options on the Wilmington HVAC schools page and the Jacksonville HVAC schools page.

A Private, Faster Route: Miller-Motte College

Miller-Motte College in Fayetteville and its Raleigh campus build heat pumps into one of four 12.5-credit courses: air conditioning, electrical systems and controls, heating and heat pumps, and refrigeration. The program is a hybrid of online coursework and on-campus labs, takes about 10 months, and starts new students every 5 weeks. Students prepare for and sit for the EPA Section 608 exam, and can earn NCCER credentials.

NCES lists the Fayetteville program’s whole-program price at $18,790 in tuition and fees. That is far more than a year at any community college on this page, so Miller-Motte suits someone who values frequent start dates and a set 10-month timeline over the lowest price. The Raleigh campus conferred 85 HVAC awards in 2024-25, and Fayetteville conferred 48.

Choosing Between a Certificate, Diploma and Degree

If heat pumps are your focus, think about how far you want to go:

1. A heat pump certificate is the quickest way to show an employer targeted training. Montgomery’s is 16 semester hours.
2. A diploma (usually about 37 to 44 credits) covers heat pumps alongside refrigeration, heating, air conditioning and electrical work.
3. An associate degree adds controls, codes and load calculation at many colleges, which matters when you size and design heat pump systems rather than just service them.

The guide to how long HVAC school takes compares these paths in more detail. Whichever you choose, plan on EPA 608 certification, since every heat pump carries refrigerant. The EPA 608 certification guide explains the Type I, II and III exams and the Universal credential.

What Heat Pump Training Costs and Pays

At the community colleges on this page, in-state tuition and fees for a full-time year (2024-25) run from $1,956 at Richmond Community College to $4,112 at Southwestern Community College. For the full school-by-school picture, including books and out-of-state rates, read how much HVAC school costs in North Carolina.

On the pay side, BLS reports a median of $57,260 a year for North Carolina HVAC mechanics and installers in May 2025. The post on how much HVAC technicians make in North Carolina breaks that down by metro area.

To compare every program in the state, start at the North Carolina HVAC schools page.

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