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Architecture & engineering

Electrical and electronics drafters

Typically requires Associate's degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
RiskyMedium uncertainty

Analyst take: Softer prospects — -5.6% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (57/100).

32
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. None = broadly exposed — many of its tasks are automatable and its skills are widely shared. (Exposure ≠ job loss; see the bears below.)

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +High pay — above 69% of careers ($73,720).
🐻 Bears say
  • Projected to shrink (-5.6%).
  • High AI exposure — 57% of tasks are model-touchable (exposure ≠ job loss).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected +5.3% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: -28.2%. Reality fell short of the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
-5.6%
Median pay
$73,720
AI exposure
57/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 235 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$59,118
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$28,500
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
2.1×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/TechnicianDrafting/Design Engineering Technologies/TechniciansInstrumentation Technology/Technician
Selective schools offering these majors
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay
Carnegie Mellon University
PA · 12% admit rate
$83,654/yr
$114,862 grad pay
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
MI · 16% admit rate
$34,654/yr
$83,648 grad pay
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
FL · 21% admit rate
$23,970/yr
$44,349 grad pay
Southern University and A & M College
LA · 35% admit rate
$26,341/yr
$43,371 grad pay
University of Puerto Rico
PR · 35% admit rate
$12,501/yr
$34,409 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

engineeringdesignmathtechnical