Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians at Ivy Tech Community College

Ivy Tech's drafting program delivers solid technical training at a bargain price, but graduates start below the national median—a gap that doesn't fully close even after four years. At $12,151 in debt, students can realistically manage payments on starting salaries of $41,467, with the debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.29 comfortably below concerning thresholds. By year four, earnings climb to $47,647, showing steady if unspectacular growth.

Here's the complication: while this program ranks at the 60th percentile among Indiana's three drafting programs, it sits in just the 18th percentile nationally. That matters if your child has any interest in relocating for work after graduation. The typical drafting associate's program produces graduates earning $45,434 in year one—about $4,000 more than Ivy Tech delivers. That gap persists over time, suggesting this program may not provide the same technical depth or industry connections as stronger competitors.

The economics work—low debt makes this a manageable investment. But if your child has the grades and resources to access higher-performing programs, the earnings differential could justify that choice. Ivy Tech succeeds at keeping costs down without creating debt burdens; it's less clear that it positions graduates to maximize their earning potential in a competitive technical field.