What should I look for when choosing a school for my computer-aided design degree?
If geography and cost are not the ultimate deciding factors, you should first look for a school that has a program that will teach you the skills you want to learn. This seems obvious but, as will be discussed below, CAD degrees can vary somewhat in their content and design, so be sure to choose from CAD schools that have the coursework and instruction you want.
Other features to look for when determining CAD schools are: faculty quality; amount of hands-on, practical experience you will receive; the type of degree offered (bachelor’s or associate’s); the career services office at the school and the type of connections it has; school certifications and accreditations.
Are there different kinds of CAD degrees?
There are slight variations in the CAD degrees available to students, and these variations can be extremely important in determining the length of time it takes to get your CAD degree and the information you will gain in the process.
First, there is the important distinction between associate’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees. Generally associate’s degrees are shorter in length and in the number of required credit hours than are bachelor’s degrees. But a targeted associate’s degree can give you the exact number of skills needed for a career, while a bachelor’s degree may be more than you are looking for content-wise and/or money-wise
As far as content goes, there seem to be two major distinctions in the CAD degrees CAD schools offer, with some offering degrees in computer-aided drafting and design (CADD), and others offering degrees in CAD engineering technology. This latter degree would be better for someone pursuing a more industrial, engineering-focused career, while the CADD degrees offered at CAD drafting schools are better suited for architects and designers.