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Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools

2023 Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

89 Colleges
$5,589 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$40,874 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 8,964 people earned a degree or certificate in drafting and design engineering technology, making the major the #154 most popular in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best 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. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 89 schools in the United States to see which associate degree 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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 15% Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools

#1

Lee College

Baytown, TX

Our 2023 rankings named Lee College the best value school in the United States for drafting and design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Lee College is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Baytown.

Lee College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,302 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Lee College is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list.

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#2

Ridgewater College

Willmar, MN

The excellent associate degree programs at Ridgewater College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drafting and design engineering technology schools in the United States. Located in the town of Willmar, Ridgewater College is a public college with a small student population.

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

Ridgewater College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list.

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#3

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

Out of the 89 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Tyler Junior College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Tyler Junior College is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Tyler.

Tyler Junior College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,440 in tuition and fees each year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from Tyler Junior College take out $15,433 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

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Out of the 89 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Northeast Community College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the 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 $5,010 per year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from Northeast take out $9,356 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Western Iowa Tech Community College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Western Iowa Tech Community College are $4,826 a year.

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Southeast Community College Area came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking. Southeast Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of Lincoln.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Southeast Community College are $3,780 a year. While working on their Associate Degree, design engineering tech majors at Southeast Community College accumulate an average of around $18,797 in student debt.

Southeast Community College also claimed a spot on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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Waukesha County Technical College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking. WCTC is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Pewaukee.

WCTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,603 in tuition and fees each year. Design Engineering Tech majors at WCTC take out an average of $17,832 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

WCTC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list.

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Fletcher Technical Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drafting and design engineering technology students to get a associate degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Fletcher Technical Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Schriever.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Fletcher Technical Community College are $3,981 a year.

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SOWELA Technical Community College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Lake Charles, SOWELA is a public school with a small student population.

SOWELA undergraduate students pay an average of $4,265 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from SOWELA carry an average student debtload of $9,173.

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With a ranking of #10, Madison Area Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drafting and design engineering technology students working on their associate degree. Madison College is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Madison.

Madison College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,769 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Madison College also is in the top 5% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking.

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#11

Hennepin Technical College

Brooklyn Park, MN

Hennepin Technical College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Brooklyn Park, Hennepin Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Hennepin Technical College are $5,741 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, design engineering tech graduates from Hennepin Technical College carry an average student debtload of $26,496.

Hennepin Technical College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list.

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Alexandria Technical & Community College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the remote town of Alexandria, ATCC is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at ATCC are $5,910 a year. On average, design engineering tech graduates from ATCC take out $11,508 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, ATCC also is in the top 10% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking.

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St Cloud Technical and Community College came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Saint Cloud, St Cloud Technical and Community College is a public college with a small student population.

St Cloud Technical and Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,874 in tuition and fees each year. Design Engineering Tech majors at St Cloud Technical and Community College take out an average of $15,778 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, St Cloud Technical and Community College also is in the top 5% of our Best Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools ranking.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

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 Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 South Louisiana Community College Lafayette, LA
15 Chippewa Valley Technical College Eau Claire, WI
16 Amarillo College Amarillo, TX
17 Alpena Community College Alpena, MI

Drafting & Design Engineering Technology by Region

View the Best Value Drafting & Design Engineering Associate Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

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

One of 18 majors within the area of study, drafting and design engineering technology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Industrial Production Technology 11,906
Electromechanical Engineering Technology 10,593
Environmental Control Technology 8,690
Electronics Engineering Technology 8,592
Engineering-Related Fields 6,736

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 Pixabay.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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