You'll be studying one of the lesser sought-after majors if you pursue a degree in construction trades. It is ranked #34 out of 38 major degree programs in terms of popularity. As such, your educational options may be more limited than if you were in a more popular field.
For its 2023 ranking, College Factual looked at 62 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for construction trades students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 35,794 degrees in construction trades to qualified students.
Your choice of construction trades school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for construction trades schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The construction trades school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Construction Trades Schools.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
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Best Schools for Construction Trades in the United States
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the construction trades degrees they offer, see the list below.
Any student pursuing a degree in construction trades has to check out Ivy Tech Community College. Located in the city of Indianapolis, Ivy Tech Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #340 out of 2,241 schools nationwide means Ivy Tech Community College is a great college overall.
There were roughly 1872 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at Ivy Tech Community College in the most recent data year. Those construction trades students who get their degree from Ivy Tech Community College receive $30,854 more than the typical construction trades graduate.
Texas State Technical College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in construction trades. Located in the city of Waco, TSTC is a public college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #335 out of 2,241 schools nationwide means TSTC is a great college overall.
There were approximately 314 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at TSTC in the most recent data year. Construction Trades degree recipients from Texas State Technical College get an earnings boost of approximately $26,659 over the average earnings of construction trades majors.
It is hard to beat Honolulu Community College if you want to pursue a degree in construction trades. Honolulu CC is a small public college located in the city of Honolulu. A Best Colleges rank of #253 out of 2,241 colleges nationwide means Honolulu CC is a great college overall.
There were about 292 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at Honolulu CC in the most recent data year. Those construction trades students who get their degree from Honolulu Community College receive $36,024 more than the typical construction trades graduate.
Utah Valley University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in construction trades. Located in the small city of Orem, UVU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #459 out of 2,241 schools nationwide means UVU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 73 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at UVU in the most recent year we have data available. Those construction trades students who get their degree from Utah Valley University receive $26,332 more than the typical construction trades student.
Located in the large city of Saint Louis, Ranken Technical College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #66 out of 2,241 schools nationwide means Ranken Technical College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 68 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at Ranken Technical College in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the construction trades program report average early career income of $26,984.
LCC is a large public college located in the city of Lansing. This college ranks 25th out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 64 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at LCC in the most recent year we have data available. Construction Trades degree recipients from Lansing Community College get an earnings boost of about $40,179 over the typical income of construction trades graduates.
Located in the rural area of Mitchell, Mitchell Tech is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 7th out of 13 colleges for overall quality in the state of South Dakota.
There were roughly 152 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at Mitchell Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Those construction trades students who get their degree from Mitchell Technical College receive $3,807 more than the typical construction trades student.
Located in the town of Granite Falls, Minnesota West is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 48th out of 55 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were roughly 83 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at Minnesota West in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the construction trades major at Minnesota West Community and Technical College earn $3,569 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
MCC is a fairly large public college located in the city of Omaha. A Best Colleges rank of #603 out of 2,241 colleges nationwide means MCC is a great college overall.
There were about 93 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at MCC in the most recent year we have data available. Those construction trades students who get their degree from Metropolitan Community College receive $13,104 more than the average construction trades grad.
Richmond Community College is a small public college located in the distant town of Hamlet. This college ranks 69th out of 93 colleges for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were roughly 43 construction trades students who graduated with this degree at Richmond Community College in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the construction trades major at Richmond Community College make $31,142 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
college factual
Your choice of construction trades school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for construction trades schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
