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Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools

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2023 Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools

89 Colleges
$40,874 Avg Salary
$14,540 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 8,819 people earned a degree or certificate in drafting and design engineering technology, making the major the #20 most popular in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which trade school program is right for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Trade College Search has created its Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking. This report analyzed 89 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best associate degree programs for trade school students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools in the United States

Check out the design engineering tech associate degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 15% Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools

#1

Ridgewater College

Willmar, MN

Our 2023 rankings named Ridgewater College the best school in the United States for drafting and design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Located in the town of Willmar, Ridgewater College is a public college with a small student population.

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The excellent associate degree programs at Dunwoody College of Technology helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best drafting and design engineering technology schools in the United States. Dunwoody College of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Minneapolis.

After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from Dunwoody College of Technology carry an average student debtload of $19,958.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Waukesha County Technical College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list. WCTC is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Pewaukee.

After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from WCTC carry an average student debtload of $17,832.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Alpena Community College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list. Alpena Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Alpena.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Madison Area Technical College is a great place for drafting and design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Madison College is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Madison.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Madison Area Technical College

Utah Valley University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drafting and design engineering technology students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. UVU is a very large public school located in the small city of Orem.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Utah Valley University Report

With a ranking of #7, Lamar Institute of Technology did quite well on this year’s best schools for drafting and design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Lamar Institute of Technology is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Beaumont.

After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from Lamar Institute of Technology carry an average student debtload of $15,855.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Lamar Institute of Technology

Chippewa Valley Technical College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking. CVTC is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Eau Claire.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Chippewa Valley Technical College

Rochester Institute of Technology came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Rochester, RIT is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#10

Portland Community College

Portland, OR

Portland Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drafting and design engineering technology students to get a associate degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the large city of Portland, Portland Community College is a public school with a very large student population.

While working on their Associate Degree, design engineering tech majors at Portland Community College accumulate an average of around $25,581 in student debt.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Portland Community College

#11

Lee College

Baytown, TX

Lee College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list. Lee College is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Baytown.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Lee College

#12

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Ferris State University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list. Ferris is a fairly large public school located in the town of Big Rapids.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Ferris State University

Northeast Community College came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking. Located in the remote town of Norfolk, Northeast is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

While working on their Associate Degree, design engineering tech majors at Northeast accumulate an average of around $9,356 in student debt.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Northeast Community College Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 Valencia College Orlando, FL
15 Fox Valley Technical College Appleton, WI
16 Southeast Technical College Sioux Falls, SD
17 Owens Community College Perrysburg, OH

Drafting & Design Engineering Technology by Region

View the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Drafting & Design Engineering Technology is one of 18 different types of trade school programs to choose from.

Design Engineering Tech Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Drafting & Design Technology 4,140
CAD/CADD Drafting &/or Design Technology 2,233
Architectural Drafting & Architectural CAD/CADD 1,141
Mechanical Drafting & Mechanical Drafting CAD/CADD 1,082
Civil Drafting & Civil Engineering CAD/CADD 86
Other Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies 70
Electrical/Electronics Drafting & Electrical/Electronics CAD/CADD 49
3-D Modeling and Design Technology 18

Majors Similar to Design Engineering Tech

Related Major Annual Graduates
Industrial Production Technology 11,466
Electromechanical Engineering Technology 10,550
Environmental Control Technology 8,601
Electronics Engineering Technology 8,553
Mechanical Engineering Technology 5,909

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Pixabay.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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