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2023 Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

138 Colleges
$5,413 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, 77,516 engineering technologies students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #4 most popular in the country.

Today's trade school students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools ranking. This report analyzed 138 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value basic certificate programs for 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. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College to be the best value school for engineering technologies students who want to pursue a basic certificate in the United States. Located in the rural area of Minden, NLTCC is a public school with a fairly small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NLTCC are $4,109 a year.

Full Engineering Technologies at Northwest Louisiana Technical Community College Report

#2

Panola College

Carthage, TX

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Panola College is a great value for engineering technologies students working on their basic certificate. Located in the distant town of Carthage, Panola College is a public college with a small student population.

Panola College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,680 in tuition and fees each year.

Panola College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 1% of all schools on our Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

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Out of the 138 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, SOWELA Technical Community College landed the # 3 spot on the list. SOWELA is a small public school located in the city of Lake Charles.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SOWELA are $4,265 per year.

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#4

Columbia Southern University

Orange Beach, AL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Columbia Southern University is a great value for engineering technologies students working on their basic certificate. Located in the fringe town of Orange Beach, Columbia Southern University is a private for-profit college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Columbia Southern University are $5,775 per year.

Columbia Southern University did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

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#5

Lee College

Baytown, TX

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Lee College is a great value for engineering technologies students working on their basic certificate. Located in the city of Baytown, Lee College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

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

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Lee College also is in the top 20% of our Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking.

Read full report on Engineering Technologies at Lee College

Bellingham Technical College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate engineering technologies programs. Located in the small city of Bellingham, Bellingham Vocational Technical Institute is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Bellingham Vocational Technical Institute are $5,227 a year.

Read full report on Engineering Technologies at Bellingham Technical College

#7

Bismarck State College

Bismarck, ND

Bismarck State College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools ranking. BSC is a small public school located in the small city of Bismarck.

BSC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,930 in tuition and fees each year.

BSC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

Read full report on Engineering Technologies at Bismarck State College

Northeast Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools list. Northeast is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Norfolk.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northeast are $5,010 per year.

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

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Western Iowa Tech Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate engineering technologies programs. Western Iowa Tech Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Sioux City.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Western Iowa Tech Community College are $4,826 per year.

Read full report on Engineering Technologies at Western Iowa Tech Community College

#10

Ridgewater College

Willmar, MN

Ridgewater College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools list. Ridgewater College is a small public school located in the town of Willmar.

Ridgewater College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,914 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Engineering Technologies at Ridgewater College Report

Fletcher Technical Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering technologies students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the rural area of Schriever, Fletcher Technical Community College is a public college with a small student population.

Fletcher Technical Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $3,981 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Engineering Technologies at Fletcher Technical Community College Report

#12

Victoria College

Victoria, TX

Victoria College landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate engineering technologies programs. Victoria College is a small public school located in the small city of Victoria.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Victoria College are $4,872 a year.

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Georgia Northwestern Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering technologies students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #13 on the list. Georgia Northwestern Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Rome.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,462 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Georgia Northwestern Technical College also did well on our Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Engineering Technologies at Georgia Northwestern Technical College

#14

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

Tyler Junior College landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate engineering technologies programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Tyler, Tyler Junior College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 a year.

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Chippewa Valley Technical College ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CVTC are $6,683 per year.

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

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#16

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

Hennepin Technical College landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate engineering technologies programs. Hennepin Technical College is a small public school located in the large suburb of Brooklyn Park.

Hennepin Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,741 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Hennepin Technical College is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

Full Engineering Technologies at Hennepin Technical College Report

#17

Amarillo College

Amarillo, TX

Amarillo College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering technologies students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #17 on the list. Amarillo College is a moderately-sized public school located in the midsize city of Amarillo.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Amarillo College are $4,704 a year.

Full Engineering Technologies at Amarillo College Report

With a ranking of #18, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering technologies students working on their basic certificate. Southwest Tech is a small public school located in the rural area of Fennimore.

Southwest Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $6,683 in tuition and fees each year.

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Fox Valley Technical College ranked #19 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools list. FVTC is a large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Appleton.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at FVTC are $6,861 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, FVTC also is in the top 5% of our Best Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking.

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#20

Piedmont Technical College

Greenwood, SC

With a ranking of #20, Piedmont Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering technologies students working on their basic certificate. Located in the town of Greenwood, Piedmont Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Piedmont Technical College are $6,593 a year.

Read full report on Engineering Technologies at Piedmont Technical College

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
21 Anoka Technical College Anoka, MN
22 South Louisiana Community College Lafayette, LA
23 Waukesha County Technical College Pewaukee, WI
24 San Jacinto Community College Pasadena, TX
24 South Central College North Mankato, MN
26 Danville Community College Danville, VA
27 Portland Community College Portland, OR

Engineering Technologies by Region

View the Best Value Engineering Technologies Basic Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Engineering Tech Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Industrial Production Technology 11,466
Electromechanical Engineering Technology 10,550
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology 8,819
Environmental Control Technology 8,601
Electronics Engineering Technology 8,553
Mechanical Engineering Technology 5,909
General Engineering Technology 4,421
Construction Engineering Technology 4,066
Computer Engineering Technology 3,416
Quality Control Technology 3,088
Engineering-Related Fields 1,898
Engineering Technology (Other) 1,480
Architectural Engineering Technology 1,251
Civil Engineering Technology 1,182
Energy Systems Technologies 1,161
Engineering-Related Technologies 974
Mining & Petroleum Technology 445
Nuclear Engineering Technology 220
Nanotechnology 16

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 KUKA Systems GmbH.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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