Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians at Glendale Community College

A first-year salary around $60,000 for a bachelor's in drafting and design engineering technology—based on what similar programs nationally produce—would put graduates on reasonably solid footing, especially with an estimated $27,000 in debt. That 0.45 debt-to-earnings ratio suggests the credential could pay for itself within a few years, assuming these national estimates hold true for Glendale's program.

The challenge is that California's picture looks quite different. The one comparable program in the state with reported data shows graduates earning closer to $49,000, nearly $11,000 less than the national figure used here. If Glendale's outcomes track closer to California norms than national ones, the value proposition weakens considerably—that same debt load becomes harder to manage on a $49,000 salary. California's higher cost of living compounds this concern.

What makes this particularly tricky is that we're working entirely with estimates; Glendale's graduate cohort is too small for the Department of Education to report actual outcomes. For a community college offering a bachelor's degree, this is a relatively unusual path, and without real earnings data from this specific program, you're essentially betting that Glendale's graduates will perform more like the national pool than like their California peers. If your student can access this program at the estimated debt level and has strong interest in drafting or CAD work, the numbers could work—but recognize you're making that decision with limited visibility into what Glendale graduates actually earn.