Is a Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians degree worth it?
Across 8 schools, graduates of Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians earn a median $76,710 five years out on $26,500 of debt — most often working as Architectural and Civil Drafters. Every figure is a real, published federal number.
Median 5-yr pay
$76,710
Median debt
$26,500
Years to pay off
3.5
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
53%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+0.3%
BLS 2024–2034
Net price
$15,763/yr
Debt-test failures
0%
of programs
'Real' premium
+$11,021
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.