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2023 Best Trade Schools
There are so many trade school programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Trade College Search has developed this Best Trade Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 1,440 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for trade school students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Trade Schools in the United States
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named Highlands College of Montana Tech the best school in the United States for trade school students working on their degree. Highlands College of Montana Tech is a public institution located in Butte, Montana. The school has a very small population, and it awarded 139 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out of the 1,440 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia Southern University landed the # 2 spot on the list. This fairly large private for-profit school is located in Orange Beach, Alabama, and it awarded 5,998 degrees in 2021-2022.
The excellent programs at Stephens College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best trade schools in the United States. Stephens is located in Columbia, Missouri and has a very small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 152 degrees to qualified students.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Providence. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Trade Schools list. University of Providence is a private not-for-profit institution located in Great Falls, Montana. The school has a very small population, and it awarded 391 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out of the 1,440 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Ottawa University - Online landed the # 5 spot on the list. This very small private not-for-profit school is located in Ottawa, Kansas, and it awarded 95 degrees in 2021-2022.
Waldorf University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. Forest City, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out degrees to 919 students in 2021-2022.
Dakota State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Trade Schools list. Dakota State University is a small public school located in Madison, South Dakota that handed out 583 degrees in 2021-2022.
Elizabethtown College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Trade Schools list. Etown is located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 585 degrees to qualified students.
Miami University - Hamilton came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools ranking. Miami University - Hamilton is located in Hamilton, Ohio and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 524 degrees to qualified students.
University of St Francis ranked #10 on this year’s Best Trade Schools list. University of St Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in Joliet, Illinois that handed out 980 degrees in 2021-2022.
Northwestern University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools ranking. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 9,725 degrees in 2021-2022.
University of Pennsylvania landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. University of Pennsylvania is a large private not-for-profit school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that handed out 10,067 degrees in 2021-2022.
Ottawa University - Kansas City landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. Ottawa University - Kansas City is a very small private not-for-profit school situated in Overland Park, Kansas. It awarded 185 degrees in 2021-2022.
Trine University-Regional/Non-Traditional Campuses came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools ranking. Trine is a private not-for-profit institution located in Angola, Indiana. The school has a small population, and it awarded 405 degrees in 2021-2022.
Full Trine University-Regional/Non-Traditional Campuses Report
With a ranking of #15, New Jersey Institute of Technology did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Located in Newark, New Jersey, the fairly large public school awarded 2,792 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
Clemson University ranked #16 on this year’s Best Trade Schools list. Clemson is a large public school situated in Clemson, South Carolina. It awarded 7,469 degrees in 2021-2022.
Ottawa University - Phoenix landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the very small private not-for-profit school handed out 389 degrees in 2021-2022.
Purdue University - Main Campus ranked #18 on this year’s Best Trade Schools list. Located in West Lafayette, Indiana, the large public school awarded 13,356 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
Wagner College came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools ranking. Staten Island, New York is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out degrees to 554 students in 2021-2022.
University of Wisconsin - Stout landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. UW - Stout is a public institution located in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1,737 degrees in 2021-2022.
Excelsior University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools ranking. Excelsior University is located in Albany, New York and has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 4,461 degrees to qualified students.
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Flex landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the setting for this very small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 132 students in 2021-2022.
Washington State University came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools ranking. Pullman, Washington is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 9,043 students in 2021-2022.
Texas A&M University - College Station ranked #25 on this year’s Best Trade Schools list. Texas A&M College Station is a public institution located in College Station, Texas. The school has a large population, and it awarded 20,117 degrees in 2021-2022.
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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