Find Trade Colleges

Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools

2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

52 Colleges
$6,906 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Basic Certificate 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 Basic Certificate Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 52 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value basic certificate 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 Basic Certificate Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Basic Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Basic Certificate Schools

#1

Lee College

Baytown, TX

Our 2023 rankings named Lee College the best value school in the United States for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. Lee College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Baytown.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lee College are $4,302 a year.

Lee College also claimed a spot on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

#2

Ridgewater College

Willmar, MN

The excellent basic certificate programs at Ridgewater College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the United States. Located in the town of Willmar, Ridgewater College is a public college 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.

Read More…

The excellent basic certificate programs at Northeast Community College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the United States. Located in the town of Norfolk, Northeast is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northeast are $5,130 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Northeast also is in the top 20% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking.

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

#4

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

The excellent basic certificate programs at Hennepin Technical College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the United States. Located in the 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.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Hennepin Technical College also did well on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

#5

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Tyler Junior College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools list. Tyler Junior College is a large public school located in the midsize city of Tyler.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 per year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Tyler Junior College Report

With a ranking of #6, Georgia Northwestern Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. Located in the city of Rome, Georgia Northwestern Technical College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,512 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Georgia Northwestern Technical College is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

Read More…

With a ranking of #7, Chippewa Valley Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. CVTC is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Eau Claire.

CVTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,793 in tuition and fees each year.

CVTC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Chippewa Valley Technical College Report

SOWELA Technical Community College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools ranking. 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 More…

#9

Amarillo College

Amarillo, TX

Amarillo College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drafting & design engineering technology students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Amarillo, Amarillo College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Amarillo College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,704 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Anoka Technical College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Anoka, Anoka Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Anoka Technical College are $6,075 per year.

Anoka Technical College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

Read More…

Drafting & Design Engineering Technology by Region

View the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate 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 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 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.

Featured Schools

Find Trade Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited trade schools across the U.S.