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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

13 Colleges
$7,212 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.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for trade school students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent.

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 in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 13 schools in the Southwest Region 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.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

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

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for design engineering tech majors pursuing a associate degree.

Top 10 Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools

#1

Lee College

Baytown, TX

Our 2023 rankings named Lee College the best value school in the Southwest Region 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.

Lee College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,302 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Lee College is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read More…

#2

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

The excellent associate degree programs at Tyler Junior College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the Southwest Region . Tyler Junior College is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Tyler.

Tyler Junior College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,440 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Tyler Junior College Report

#3

Amarillo College

Amarillo, TX

The excellent associate degree programs at Amarillo College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the midsize city of Amarillo, Amarillo College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Amarillo College are $4,704 a year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Amarillo College Report

The excellent associate degree programs at San Jacinto Community College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the Southwest Region . San Jacinto College is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Pasadena.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at San Jacinto College are $5,040 a year.

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

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Houston Community College is a great value for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Located in the large city of Houston, Houston Community College is a public school with a very large student population.

Houston Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,460 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their Associate Degree, design engineering tech majors at Houston Community College accumulate an average of around $15,837 in student debt.

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

#6

Laredo College

Laredo, TX

Laredo College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drafting & design engineering technology students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of Laredo, Laredo College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Laredo College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,748 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Lamar Institute of Technology came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Lamar Institute of Technology is a small public school located in the city of Beaumont.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lamar Institute of Technology are $12,636 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Lamar Institute of Technology also is in the top 15% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southwest Region ranking.

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

Tarrant County College District did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drafting & design engineering technology students to get a associate degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County College is a public college with a very large student population.

Tarrant County College undergraduate students pay an average of $8,235 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Tarrant County College District Report

#9

San Juan College

Farmington, NM

San Juan College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. SJC is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Farmington.

SJC undergraduate students pay an average of $4,882 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at San Juan College

Austin Community College District did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drafting & design engineering technology students to get a associate degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Austin Community College District is a very large public school located in the large city of Austin.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Austin Community College District are $10,590 per year. The average amount in student loans that design engineering tech majors at Austin Community College District take out while working on their Associate Degree is $16,915.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Austin Community College District Report

Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 150
Texas 1,107
Oklahoma 240
New Mexico 46

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

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 13 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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