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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 college with a medium-sized student population.

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

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Georgia Northwestern Technical College also is in the top 5% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend SOWELA Technical Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the small city of Lake Charles, SOWELA is a public college with a small student population.

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

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at SOWELA Technical Community College Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means South Louisiana Community College is a great value for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. 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.

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

#4

Valencia College

Orlando, FL

The excellent basic certificate programs at Valencia College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting & design engineering technology schools in the Southeast Region . Valencia College is a fairly large public school located in the city of Orlando.

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

Valencia 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 in the Southeast Region list.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. 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.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College Report

Florence-Darlington 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 #6 on the list. Located in the suburb of Florence, Florence-Darlington Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Florence-Darlington Technical College are $6,772 per year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Florence-Darlington Technical College Report

Greenville 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 #7 on the list. Located in the 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.

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

With a ranking of #8, Eastern Florida State College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. EFSC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Melbourne.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at EFSC are $10,976 a year.

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

Pierpont Community and Technical College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the town of Fairmont, Pierpont Community and Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Pierpont Community and Technical College are $12,056 a 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 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 #10 on the list. Located in the large suburb of West Columbia, MTC is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

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

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Midlands Technical College Report

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
Georgia 339
South Carolina 112
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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