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Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

19 Colleges
$9,920 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. 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 Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This report analyzed 19 schools in the Southeast Region 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 Southeast Region

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

Our analysis found Georgia Northwestern Technical College to be the best value school for drafting & design engineering technology students who want to pursue a basic certificate in the Southeast Region . 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.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College also claimed a spot on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

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

Out of the 19 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, SOWELA Technical Community College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Lake Charles, SOWELA is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SOWELA are $4,325 a year.

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The excellent basic certificate programs at South Louisiana 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 Southeast Region . South Louisiana Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the midsize city of Lafayette.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at South Louisiana Community College are $4,205 per year.

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#4

Valencia College

Orlando, FL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Valencia College is a great value for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. Valencia College is a very large public school located in the large city of Orlando.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Valencia College are $9,383 per year.

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

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College is a great value for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. Located in the rural area of Orangeburg, OCtech is a public school with a small student population.

OCtech undergraduate students pay an average of $7,970 in tuition and fees each year.

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Florence-Darlington Technical College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the small suburb of Florence, Florence-Darlington Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

Florence-Darlington Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,772 in tuition and fees each year.

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Greenville Technical College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate drafting & design engineering technology programs. Located in the city of Greenville, GTC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

GTC undergraduate students pay an average of $10,202 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Eastern Florida State College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. EFSC is a large public school located in the small city of Melbourne.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at EFSC are $10,976 per year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Eastern Florida State College Report

Pierpont Community and Technical 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 town of Fairmont, Pierpont Community and Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

Pierpont Community and Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $12,056 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Pierpont Community and Technical College is ranked #4 for overall quality for design engineering tech in the Southeast Region .

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#10

Midlands Technical College

West Columbia, SC

Midlands Technical College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the suburb of West Columbia, MTC is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

MTC undergraduate students pay an average of $13,812 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best drafting & design engineering technology colleges 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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