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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

8 Colleges
$6,303 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.

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.

The Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking is one of many tools that Trade College Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 8 schools in the Plains States Region to see which basic certificate 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 Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

Check out the design engineering tech basic certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best Plains States Region Schools for Affordable Quality for an Award Taking Less Than 1 Year in Drafting & Design Engineering

#1

Ridgewater College

Willmar, MN

Our 2023 rankings named Ridgewater College the best value school in the Plains States Region for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their basic certificate. 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.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Ridgewater College Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northeast Community College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote 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.

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

#3

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

Out of the 8 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Hennepin Technical College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Brooklyn Park, Hennepin Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Hennepin Technical College are $5,881 a year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Hennepin Technical College Report

Out of the 8 schools in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Anoka Technical College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Anoka, Anoka Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

Anoka Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,075 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Read More…

#5

Central Community College

Grand Island, NE

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Central Community College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Grand Island, Central Community College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Central Community College are $4,710 per year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Central Community College Report

#6

Kirkwood Community College

Cedar Rapids, IA

Kirkwood Community College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Kirkwood Community College is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kirkwood Community College are $7,604 per year.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Kirkwood Community College Report

Western Dakota Technical Institute ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Western Dakota Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Rapid City.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Western Dakota Tech are $8,333 per year.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Western Dakota Technical Institute

Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Basic Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. WSU Tech is a medium-sized public school located in the rural area of Wichita.

WSU Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $6,578 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology

Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best drafting & design engineering technology colleges for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 130
Missouri 137
Minnesota 333
South Dakota 20
Iowa 103
Nebraska 152

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 8 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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