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Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Texas

2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Texas

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

10 Colleges
$4,455 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,027 Avg Salary

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

With 1,107 degrees and certificates handed out in 2021-2022, drafting & design engineering technology is the #16 most popular major in Texas.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for trade school students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Trade College Search has developed this Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Texas ranking. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in Texas 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 Texas

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

Our 2023 rankings named Lamar Institute of Technology the best value school in Texas for drafting & 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.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Lamar Institute of Technology are $2,844 a year.

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

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#2

Lee College

Baytown, TX

The excellent associate degree programs at Lee College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in Texas. Lee College is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Baytown.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lee College are $3,882 per year.

Lee College also took the #4 spot in our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in Texas rankings.

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Out of the 10 schools in Texas that were part of this year’s ranking, San Jacinto Community College landed the # 3 spot on the list. San Jacinto College is a very large public school located in the suburb of Pasadena.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at San Jacinto College are $3,240 a year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at San Jacinto Community College Report

#4

Amarillo College

Amarillo, TX

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Amarillo College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the medium-sized city of Amarillo, Amarillo College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Amarillo College are $3,168 a year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Amarillo College Report

#5

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

Out of the 10 schools in Texas that were part of this year’s ranking, Tyler Junior College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Tyler Junior College is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Tyler.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Tyler Junior College are $3,864 per year.

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Tarrant County College District landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree drafting & design engineering technology programs. Located in the large city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County College is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Tarrant County College are $3,402 per year.

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Houston Community College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the city of Houston, Houston Community College is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Houston Community College are $4,344 a year. After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from Houston Community College carry an average student debtload of $15,837.

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

#8

Laredo College

Laredo, TX

Laredo College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the large city of Laredo, Laredo College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Laredo College are $4,500 a year.

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

Texas State Technical College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools in Texas list. TSTC is a large public school located in the midsize city of Waco.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at TSTC are $6,969 a year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from TSTC take out $12,809 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

In addition to its great value ranking, TSTC is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Trade Schools in Texas list.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Texas State Technical College Report

With a ranking of #10, Austin Community College District did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Austin Community College District is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

Austin Community College District undergraduate students pay an average of $8,580 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from Austin Community College District take out $16,915 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

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

Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges in the Southwest Region

Explore all the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges in the Southwest Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 150
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 10 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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