Bachelor's · Angola, Indiana

Is Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians at Trine University-Regional/Non-Traditional Campuses worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.9 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $72,543; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $83,263; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $27,000; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $79k (likely $79k – $109k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $44k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in IN; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 2.9 years (likely 2.4–3.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $174k (likely $71k – $263k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $706k (likely $515k – $906k); Today's dollars
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20