If you plan on getting your associate degree in drafting & design engineering technology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #48 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 40 associate degrees in drafting & design engineering technology to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Drafting & Design Engineering Technology School for Your Associate Degree
The design engineering tech associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on drafting & design engineering technology students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of drafting & design engineering technology students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt drafting & design engineering technology students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized drafting & design engineering technology related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for drafting & design engineering technology students working on their associate degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Drafting & Design Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools in Iowa list, to help you choose the best school for you.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Drafting & Design Engineering Technology in Iowa
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in drafting & design engineering technology.
Top Iowa Schools for an Associate in Design Engineering Tech
Kirkwood Community College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in drafting & design engineering technology. Located in the medium-sized city of Cedar Rapids, Kirkwood Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
After graduation, design engineering tech associate recipients generally earn about $41,575 in their early careers.
Des Moines Area Community College is a great option for students interested in an associate degree in drafting & design engineering technology. Located in the suburb of Ankeny, DMACC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Associate students who receive their degree from the design engineering tech program earn around $35,471 in the first couple years of their career.
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in drafting & design engineering technology needs to look into Western Iowa Tech Community College. Located in the city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology associate degree recipients from Western Iowa Tech Community College earn a boost of approximately $5,294 above the average income of drafting & design engineering technology graduates.
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
The design engineering tech associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
