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Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$7,958 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,027 Avg Salary

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. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Trade College Search has created its Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This report analyzed 19 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for design engineering tech students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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.

2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

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 10 Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Fletcher Technical Community College the best value school in the Southeast Region for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Fletcher Technical Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Schriever.

Fletcher Technical Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,119 in tuition and fees each year.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means SOWELA Technical Community College is a great value for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Lake Charles, SOWELA is a public college with a small student population.

SOWELA undergraduate students pay an average of $4,325 in tuition and fees each year.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Louisiana Community College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. South Louisiana Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized city of Lafayette.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at South Louisiana Community College are $4,205 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from South Louisiana Community College carry an average student debtload of $13,823.

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Out of the 19 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Georgia Northwestern Technical College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Rome, Georgia Northwestern Technical College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Georgia Northwestern Technical College are $5,512 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Georgia Northwestern Technical College also did well on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Georgia Northwestern Technical College Report

The excellent associate degree programs at Mississippi Gulf Coast 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 Southeast Region . Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the rural area of Perkinston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College are $7,250 per year. While working on their Associate Degree, design engineering tech majors at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College accumulate an average of around $11,012 in student debt.

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#6

Pearl River Community College

Poplarville, MS

With a ranking of #6, Pearl River Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Located in the remote area of Poplarville, Pearl River Community College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Pearl River Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,500 in tuition and fees each year.

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#7

Valencia College

Orlando, FL

Valencia College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Valencia College is a fairly large public school located in the city of Orlando.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Valencia College are $9,383 a year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from Valencia College take out $12,667 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Valencia College also claimed a spot on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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

Greenville Technical College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree drafting & design engineering technology programs. Located in the small city of Greenville, GTC is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at GTC are $10,202 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, GTC also did well on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the rural area of Orangeburg, OCtech is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at OCtech are $7,970 a year.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College

#10

Piedmont Technical College

Greenwood, SC

Piedmont Technical College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the distant town of Greenwood, Piedmont Technical College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Piedmont Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,593 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best drafting & design engineering technology schools for a specific state in the Southeast region.

State Degrees Awarded
South Carolina 112
Georgia 339
Arkansas 78
North Carolina 97
Florida 450
West Virginia 8
Louisiana 183
Virginia 115
Alabama 212
Kentucky 307
Tennessee 122
Mississippi 227

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 4,028
CAD/CADD Drafting &/or Design Technology 2,179
Architectural Drafting & Architectural CAD/CADD 1,318
Mechanical Drafting & Mechanical Drafting CAD/CADD 1,058
Civil Drafting & Civil Engineering CAD/CADD 104
Other Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies 72
Electrical/Electronics Drafting & Electrical/Electronics CAD/CADD 47

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 19 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.

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