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2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree School for You
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology is the #20 most popular major in the country with 8,822 degrees and certificates awarded in 2021-2022.
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.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Trade College Search has created the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 89 schools in the United States to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for design engineering tech students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
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2023 Best Value 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 value for your educational dollar.
Top 15% Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Lee College the best value school in the United States for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Lee College is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Baytown.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lee College are $4,302 a year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Lee College is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list.
Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Lee College
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ridgewater College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the remote town of Willmar, Ridgewater College is a public school with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Ridgewater College are $6,114 a year. The average amount in student loans that design engineering tech majors at Ridgewater College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $11,004.
In addition to its great value ranking, Ridgewater College is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list.
Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Ridgewater College
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Tyler Junior College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Tyler Junior College is a large public school located in the city of Tyler.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 a year.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northeast Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the town of Norfolk, Northeast is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Northeast undergraduate students pay an average of $5,130 in tuition and fees each year.
The excellent associate degree programs at Western Iowa Tech Community College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the United States. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Western Iowa Tech Community College are $4,946 per year.
Southeast Community College Area ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Southeast Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Lincoln.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Southeast Community College are $3,864 a year. The average amount in student loans that design engineering tech majors at Southeast Community College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $16,668.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Southeast Community College also is in the top 15% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking.
Waukesha County Technical College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. WCTC is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Pewaukee.
WCTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,722 in tuition and fees each year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from WCTC take out $19,578 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
In addition to its great value ranking, WCTC is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list.
Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Waukesha County Technical College Report
Fletcher Technical Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Fletcher Technical Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Schriever.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Fletcher Technical Community College are $4,119 per year.
Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Fletcher Technical Community College
SOWELA Technical Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree drafting & design engineering technology programs. Located in the small city of Lake Charles, SOWELA is a public college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SOWELA are $4,325 per year.
Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at SOWELA Technical Community College
Madison Area Technical College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Madison College is a large public school located in the large city of Madison.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Madison College are $6,812 a year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Madison College also is in the top 10% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking.
Hennepin Technical College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Brooklyn Park, Hennepin Technical College is a public college with a small student population.
Hennepin Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,881 in tuition and fees each year. Design Engineering Tech majors at Hennepin Technical College take out an average of $15,852 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Hennepin Technical College also is in the top 20% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools ranking.
Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Hennepin Technical College Report
Alexandria Technical & Community College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the remote town of Alexandria, ATCC is a public school with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at ATCC are $6,107 a year. The average amount in student loans that design engineering tech majors at ATCC take out while working on their Associate Degree is $13,354.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, ATCC also did well on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
St Cloud Technical and Community College landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree drafting & design engineering technology programs. Located in the small city of Saint Cloud, St Cloud Technical and Community College is a public school with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at St Cloud Technical and Community College are $6,075 per year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from St Cloud Technical and Community College take out $11,155 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
St Cloud Technical and Community College also claimed a spot on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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 Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | South Louisiana Community College | Lafayette, LA |
| 15 | Chippewa Valley Technical College | Eau Claire, WI |
| 16 | Amarillo College | Amarillo, TX |
| 17 | Alpena Community College | Alpena, MI |
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology by Region
View the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Other U.S. Territories |
| Great Lakes |
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Related Majors for Design Engineering Tech
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology is one of 18 different types of trade school programs to choose from.
Design Engineering Tech Concentrations
Majors Similar to Design Engineering Tech
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Industrial Production Technology | 11,288 |
| Electromechanical Engineering Technology | 10,780 |
| Environmental Control Technology | 9,376 |
| Electronics Engineering Technology | 8,347 |
| Engineering-Related Fields | 6,553 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- 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.