Georgia·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-3011

Best Architectural programs in Georgia, ranked by enrollment

Prepare detailed drawings of architectural and structural features of buildings or drawings and topographical relief maps used in civil engineering projects, such as highways, bridges, and public works.

15 schools in Georgia run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,002 people a year. The job pays a median of $74,940 in Georgia across about 3,970 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDraftsmanCivil DrafterArchitectural DrafterComputer-Aided Drafting Designer (CAD Designer)DrafterDesignerDetailerArchitect
Graduates / yr
1,002
in Georgia
Median pay · Georgia
$74,940
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
3,970
people employed
Schools
15
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
48%
across those schools
Median net price
$44,902
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Georgia that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

5 programs in Georgia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Georgia (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Georgia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 04.0902In Georgia
302
30.1%
3$48,514$27,000
2
CIP 15.1301In Georgia
272
27.1%
10$44,946$12,992
3
CIP 15.1302In Georgia
219
21.9%
11$44,946$12,992
4
CIP 15.1303In Georgia
202
20.2%
2$44,946$12,992
5
CIP 15.0101In Georgia
7
0.7%
2$50,625$21,717

Top 15 schools in Georgia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 15 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah, GA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
508Architectural Drafting and Architectural CAD/CADD69%$44,90283%
2Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus
Atlanta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
115Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology94%14%
3Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
89Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology52%69%
4Chattahoochee Technical College
Marietta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
74CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician38%
5Gwinnett Technical College
Lawrenceville, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
51CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician32%
6Georgia Northwestern Technical College
Rome, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
35CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician43%
7Lanier Technical College
Gainesville, GA Public · 3 feeder programs
33CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician34%
8Athens Technical College
Athens, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
30CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician51%
9Southern Regional Technical College
Thomasville, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
26CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician31%
10Atlanta Technical College
Atlanta, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
16CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician49%
11South Georgia Technical College
Americus, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
9CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician61%
12Albany Technical College
Albany, GA Public · 2 feeder programs
5CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician42%
13Augusta Technical College
Augusta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
5Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians31%
14Savannah Technical College
Savannah, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
4CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician42%
15Georgia Piedmont Technical College
Clarkston, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
2Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians44%

All 15 schools in Georgia

Every school in Georgia with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Georgia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Savannah College of Art and DesignSavannahPrivate not-for-profit5084
Georgia Institute of Technology - Main CampusAtlantaPublic1151
Kennesaw State UniversityKennesawPublic891
Chattahoochee Technical CollegeMariettaPublic742
Gwinnett Technical CollegeLawrencevillePublic512
Georgia Northwestern Technical CollegeRomePublic352
Lanier Technical CollegeGainesvillePublic333
Athens Technical CollegeAthensPublic302
Southern Regional Technical CollegeThomasvillePublic262
Atlanta Technical CollegeAtlantaPublic162
South Georgia Technical CollegeAmericusPublic92
Albany Technical CollegeAlbanyPublic52
Augusta Technical CollegeAugustaPublic51
Savannah Technical CollegeSavannahPublic41
Georgia Piedmont Technical CollegeClarkstonPublic21

What architectural and civil drafters earn in Georgia

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Georgia
$74,940
Mean annual
$75,040
Jobs in state
3,970
What the range looks like
10th pct$46,530Median$74,94090th pct$108,610
Versus the national median
+13.3%

U.S. median $66,150. Georgia pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.22×

Concentrated here: Georgia employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Georgia

Dalton, GA
$79,410median
40 jobs
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
$74,180median
2,170 jobs
Savannah, GA
$74,190median
110 jobs
Gainesville, GA
$71,930median
40 jobs
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
$69,440median
130 jobs
Brunswick-St. Simons, GA
$57,060median
40 jobs
Macon-Bibb County, GA
$61,490median
70 jobs
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$60,520median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.1%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,600
110,500 → 115,100
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Architectural and Civil Drafters page.

How to become a Architectural

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingActive LearningWritingMathematicsMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Georgia

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 9 majors mapped to Architectural and Civil Drafters9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 04.0901Architectural Technology/Technician
  • 04.0902Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology
  • 04.0999Architectural Sciences and Technology, Other
  • 15.0101Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians
  • 15.1301Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General
  • 15.1302CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician
  • 15.1303Architectural Drafting and Architectural CAD/CADD
  • 15.1304Civil Drafting and Civil Engineering CAD/CADD
  • 15.13073-D Modeling and Design Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing architectural and civil drafters programs in Georgia.

What degree do you need to become an Architectural?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology, which awarded 302 degrees in Georgia in 2024-25, 30.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Architectural?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Architectural Sciences and Technology, Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 1,002 people a year in Georgia.

How much do architectural and civil drafters earn in Georgia?+

The median is $74,940 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 13.3% above the U.S. median of $66,150. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for architectural and civil drafters growing?+

BLS projects a +4.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Georgia?+

15 institutions in Georgia reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do architectural and civil drafters work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Draftsman, Civil Drafter, Architectural Drafter, Computer-Aided Drafting Designer (CAD Designer) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-3011.

Architectural and Civil Drafters in other statesCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisMassachusettsPennsylvaniaIndiana

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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