Best Value Colleges for Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians
Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.
7
Schools Ranked
$54,636
Avg. Earnings
1.7 yrs
Best Payback
449
Graduates
How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.
| # | School | Major Earnings | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI · Public | $69,338 | 1.7 yrs |
| 2 | Trine University Angola, IN · Private | $64,706 | 2.9 yrs |
| 3 | University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO · Public | $54,154 | 3 yrs |
| 4 | Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI · Public | $60,771 | 3.2 yrs |
| 5 | East Carolina University Greenville, NC · Public | $45,277 | 6.5 yrs |
| 6 | Murray State University Murray, KY · Public | $38,289 | 13.7 yrs |
| 7 | Indiana University-Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN · Public | $35,810 | 65.7 yrs |
Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.