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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

10 Colleges
$5,901 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$34,865 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Undergraduate 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 Undergraduate 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. This report analyzed 10 schools in the Plains States Region to see which ones offered the best value undergraduate certificate programs for design engineering tech students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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 Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region

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

Top 10 Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Undergraduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Western Iowa Tech Community College the best value school in the Plains States Region for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their undergraduate certificate. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Western Iowa Tech Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,946 in tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northeast Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote town of Norfolk, Northeast is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Northeast are $5,130 a year. Design Engineering Tech majors at Northeast take out an average of $7,206 in student loans while working on their Undergraduate Certificate.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Northeast Community College Report

#3

Ridgewater College

Willmar, MN

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ridgewater College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the remote town of Willmar, Ridgewater College is a public school 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 Anoka Technical College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the 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.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Anoka Technical College Report

#5

Central Community College

Grand Island, NE

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Central Community College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the small city of Grand Island, Central Community College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

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

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With a ranking of #6, St Cloud Technical and Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their undergraduate certificate. Located in the small city of Saint Cloud, St Cloud Technical and Community College is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at St Cloud Technical and Community College are $6,075 a year.

St Cloud Technical and Community College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read full report on Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at St Cloud Technical and Community College

#7

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

With a ranking of #7, Hennepin Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their undergraduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Brooklyn Park, Hennepin Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

Hennepin Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,881 in tuition and fees each year.

Hennepin Technical College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Full Drafting & Design Engineering Technology at Hennepin Technical College Report

#8

Kirkwood Community College

Cedar Rapids, IA

Kirkwood Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. Kirkwood Community College is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids.

Kirkwood Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,604 in tuition and fees each year.

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Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the Plains States Region list. WSU Tech is a moderately-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.

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Des Moines Area Community College landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value undergraduate certificate drafting & design engineering technology programs. DMACC is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Ankeny.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at DMACC are $10,680 per year.

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Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best drafting & design engineering technology schools 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 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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